There's No Place Like Home
by lovetheblazer
Summary: When Kurt misses a date with Blaine, Blaine decides to go investigating. He wasn't expecting to find his boyfriend slumped against the toilet in the bathroom looking awful. Will Kurt be okay? Klaine of course, with some Kurt whump and Klaine fluff to come
1. Prologue

**When Kurt misses a date with Blaine, Blaine decides to go investigating. He wasn't expecting to find his poor boyfriend slumped against the toilet in the bathroom, looking awful. Will Kurt be okay? Klaine of course, with some Kurt whump and Klaine fluff to come.**

**This story takes place after the events of Original Song (2x16) but before Kurt returns to McKinley at the end of Born This Way (2x18). Spoilers through the end of Season 2. In my version of this story, Dalton is a boarding school and Kurt typically boards there during the week but goes home on the weekends in order to break up the long commute. New, but established Klaine relationship. **

"_Where the hell is Kurt," _thought Blaine for the tenth time in the last half hour. Kurt was over a half hour late, which wasn't like him. They'd made plans to meet in Blaine's room to rehearse their latest show-stopping duet and then they were going to watch The Wizard of Oz on the big screen in the common room of Dalton. Kurt's obsession with getting Blaine to watch The Wizard of Oz had started when he told Kurt that he'd never actually made it all the way through the movie before, mostly because kids at his old school liked to tease him in middle school by calling him "Munchkin" and his personal favorite "The Lollipop Guild," both not so subtle attempts at making fun of his admittedly hobbit height.

Blaine thought back to their spirited conversation over lunch the day before.

_FLASHBACK – 24 HOURS PRIOR_

"_But Blaine, it's Judy Garland. How can you call yourself a true gay man if you haven't watched her sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It's is a sacrilege! We have to rectify this immediately."_

"_Rectify it, huh? Another SAT word?" Blaine asked teasingly._

"_Yes, Blaine. I figure that since my dad and Carole gave up their honeymoon money to send me here, the least I could do was make the most of my education with all those fancy test prep classes they offer at Dalton...Even though we all know it will be my killer audition performance singing "Rose's Turn" that will get me into NYU's drama department," Kurt finished in mock indignation. _

"_Naturally," said Blaine with a laugh. "No, I like the new vocabulary. Smart is sexy."_

_Kurt had simply blushed, still not used to having a boyfriend who found him so charming. Kurt could hardly believe his good luck sometimes. "Thanks Blaine," he said with a shy smile. "Now, what are we going to choose for our next duet? We need something need killer if we are going to beat Vocal Adrenaline next year. I know the Warblers think they won't be as much competition without Jesse St. James, but trust me...I've heard Sunshine Corazon sing, and as much as I hate to admit it...Girlfriend can sing!"_

_Blaine nodded, also worried about their competition, not just from Vocal Adrenaline, but also from New Directions as well, especially after New Directions had beaten them at Regionals recently, although this was something he'd never admit to Kurt, as he knew how hard it had been for Kurt to transfer to Dalton, let alone to think of his former teammates as the "competition." They needed to come up with something killer to perform, but Blaine was feeling short on inspiration at the moment for some reason._

"_Oh Blaine, I've got the perfect idea! It's actually a duet I did a while back with Rachel just for fun, but it would be even more perfect with you. And it's Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand. Oh my god, it doesn't get any more perfect than that. We HAVE to do it!"_

"_Sounds great, Kurt. What's the song?"_

"_You mean you don't know? Blaine, it is an incredibly famous duet, surely you have heard it!" Kurt exclaimed in shock, certain that his boyfriend had to be joking with him. _

_Blaine looked embarrassed. "Come on, Kurt. Just tell me. What's it called? Maybe I have heard it, but I just can't come up with it off the top of my head."_

_Kurt shook his head in amazement. "No, no...if you haven't heard it yet, I want to set the stage for what is going to a seminal moment in your life. Let's meet tomorrow after dinner - 7 PM in your room. I'll bring the music. We'll watch the duet on YouTube, then you and I will rehearse until we are ready to kill it, and THEN I'm going to continue your Judy Garland education by showing you The Wizard of Oz. I'm going to see about checking out one of the projectors so that we can watch it on the big screen in the common room. It is in Technicolor, after all, so it deserves to be seen on something bigger than your laptop screen. Omigod, I'm so excited! I need to get everything ready for our date. What am I going to wear? Maybe we could even have themed snacks?" Kurt rambled on, thrilled to be planning such a fun date for the boy he was hopelessly in love with. _

"_Okay Blaine, I'm off to class and then to get everything ready for tomorrow. There's so much to do! 7 PM. Your room. I'll bring everything." And with a quick peck on the cheek, Kurt was gone, off to plan what promised to be a very exciting date._

_END FLASHBACK_

Blaine looked at this watch for the tenth time, confirming that it was nearly 7:45. Where could Kurt be? Maybe he lost track of time in all his eagerness to plan? But that wasn't like Kurt. Blaine glanced at his phone, confirming that Kurt had yet to call or respond to the texts that Blaine sent earlier.

_**To Kurt (7:14 pm): **__Hey babe, where are you? Aren't we meeting at 7 in my room? Call me._

_**To Kurt (7:28 pm): **__Kurt, where are you? I'm getting worried. Call me. _

Blaine dropped the phone to the mattress with a sigh. Maybe Kurt had meant that they would meet in his room instead of Blaine's? That still didn't explain why he wasn't answering his phone, but Blaine decided that he'd waited long enough and was ready to go in search of Kurt. He slipped his cell phone into his pocket and stood, slipping a gray hoodie over his unbuttoned and untucked starched button down uniform shirt and loosened tie. As he left his dorm room, he wrote a quick note to Kurt on the whiteboard of his dorm room door on the off chance that he managed to just miss Kurt.

_Kurt, I'm headed to your room to hopefully find you. Call me if you get this. Blaine (7:45 pm)_

Blaine couldn't help the slight feeling of dread that was growing in the pit of his stomach as he quickly walked down one of endless corridors of Dalton to Kurt's room. What if something had happened to Kurt? Blaine knew it was a crazy thought, but what if Karofsky had managed to follow Kurt here somehow to teach him a lesson? Could Dave have managed to get into Dalton to hurt Kurt? Blaine tried hard to shake these worries from his mind as he sped up and began walking a bit faster towards Kurt's room, hoping that he would find Kurt obliviously trying on his twelfth outfit, unaware of the time.

Blaine finally made it to Kurt's room and was puzzled to find that the room door was unlocked and slightly ajar. Blaine frowned as he pushed open the door, knowing that Kurt was obsessive about locking up behind him and often chastised Blaine for forgetting to lock his door before he left for class or went to bed. He opened the door and was surprised to see Kurt's rumpled blazer, button down white shirt, and tie dumped unceremoniously on the floor of Kurt's usually immaculate bedroom. A quick scan of the room confirmed that Kurt was nowhere to be found, although Blaine noticed Kurt's phone sitting on top of the dresser near his bed. Kurt's backpack was looped over the back of his desk chair too, Blaine noted. Blaine turned his attentions towards the bathroom, noticing that the door was also slightly ajar letting out a sliver of light from the fluorescent lights that were on in the bathroom.

Blaine tentatively opened the bathroom door, knocking as he did so in an attempt to keep from startling Kurt in the event that he was in the bathroom. "Kurt? Kurt, are you in here?" Blaine called.

Blaine's eyes widened in shock as he saw his boyfriend, pale and sweating, curled in the fetal position on the floor of the bathroom near the toilet, dressed only in a white undershirt, his grey uniform pants, and a pair of navy argyle socks. Kurt's usually perfectly coiffed hair was sticking up in places while his bangs were sweaty and matted to his forehead. Kurt's usually rosy cheeks were pale while his bright eyes were glazed over with the unmistakeable sheen of fever.

Kurt's eyes opened at the sound of Blake's voice. He groaned involuntarily. "Blaine," he croaked out, his voice sounding hoarse and weak.

Blaine was on his knees in an instant, his hand going to Kurt's forehead. "Oh Kurt," he said worriedly. "What happened to you?"

**So what do you think of the story so far? I know what's wrong with Kurt, but want to draw out the suspense a bit. This is just the prologue, and there are many more chapters to come, assuming you want to read more. If you are interested in hearing what comes next, please read and review. This is my first Glee fanfic, so I welcome all constructive criticism. **


	2. Try a Little Tenderness

**Hello dear readers. Wow, thanks for the warm reception into the world of Glee fanfiction. You've definitely made me feel right at home. Thanks to RunBabyRun8312, Gleekfurt, coffeeeeeholic, kellylouise potter, TranquilityofPassion, and Senuna for the recent reviews! And special thanks to everyone else who has faved this story or subscribed to the alerts. **

_**Blaine was on his knees in an instant, his hand going to Kurt's forehead. "Oh Kurt," he said worriedly. "What happened to you?"**_

"Mhmm, Blaine. What time is it?" asked Kurt confusedly.

"Almost 8," replied Blaine, glancing at his watch to confirm the time. As he answered Kurt, his hand went to Kurt's hot, damp forehead, confirming that he most likely had a fever. A high one judging from the amount of heat radiating from Kurt's body.

"Ohh, Blaine, I'm sorry. Our date! I must have fallen asleep on the floor." Kurt mumbled, eyes half closed in either pain or exhaustion.

Blaine looked at Kurt with concern. "Fell asleep or passed out?"

"Same difference," said Kurt petulantly.

"Um no, Kurt. Those most certainly are _not_ the same thing. What's going on? Are you sick, babe?"

"Nope, just really enjoy making deposits to the porcelain god and napping with my good friend Mr. Toilet Bowl. You?" asked Kurt sarcastically.

Blaine held up his hands. "Okay, okay, I'm going to let that one pass because it is clear that you are feeling like death. You look awful, Kurt. What's hurting? Where are you feeling bad?"

"I look awful? Oh god, you shouldn't see me like this. I'm hideous. Is there vomit on my shirt or something?" Kurt blurted out, looking embarrassed.

"Hey, shh babe. That's not what I meant. I just meant you look like you are feeling pretty miserable. You are still gorgeous, even all rumpled and flushed like this. But let's get back to the issue at hand. I need to know how sick you are. We may need to take you to the infirmary or call your dad or something," Blaine finished worriedly. "Can you tell me your symptoms?"

Kurt's eyes snapped shut, seemingly in exhaustion. "Mhmm, my stomach and side hurt. I've been feeling nauseous all day and started puking around 4 or 4:30. Got a headache too."

"Okay babe," Blaine said soothingly as he slowly stroked Kurt's upper arm. "Have you taken any medicine yet? Have you checked your temperature lately?"

Kurt rested his head against the cool porcelain of the side of the bathtub, and shook his head, eyes still closed shut tightly.

"Right, well we need to do that first." Blaine ran a cool hand across Kurt's forehead feeling the unnatural heat radiating from his pores. "You are burning up, Kurt. Where's your medicine cabinet? Do you have any supplies in there?" Blaine asked gently.

"I think Carole put some stuff with the first aid kit under the sink..." Kurt trailed off weakly.

"Okay Kurt, just sit tight for a second." Blaine said as he reluctantly dropped his hand from Kurt's forehead and began to root around under the sink, finding a thermometer and a bottle of Tylenol. It wasn't much, but it was a good start.

Blaine was back at Kurt's side in a flash, noticing that Kurt's eyes were closed again and he looked paler than he had only moments ago. "Alright Kurt, open up," Blaine commanded, sticking the thermometer in Kurt's mouth. "Under your tongue," he continued, bringing his hand to Kurt's cheek and noting that his temperature appeared to be going nowhere but up.

"Mhhff," said Kurt mumbling something unintelligibly thanks to the thermometer in his mouth.

Blaine waited quietly for the beeping that signaled that Kurt's temperature was ready to be displayed. Before Kurt could grab the thermometer, Blaine grabbed it from him and looked at the display, feeling his stomach drop as he read the numbers. 103.3. "Oh Kurt..." said Blaine worriedly. "You're really sick, baby."

Kurt's eyes were closed again, and he seemed to be leaning more heavily against the bathtub than he had been only minutes before. "What did it say?" he asked Blaine, not bothering to open his eyes.

"103.3," responded Blaine, trying hard not let his panic come through in his voice.

"Shit..." muttered Kurt, the word sounding funny coming from his mouth since he rarely cursed.

Normally, Blaine would have teased him for using a curse word or told him how adorable the word "shit" sounded coming from his lips, but the word seemed appropriate at the moment and Blaine was too worried to flirt. Instead, "yeah," was all that Blaine managed to say.

Blaine shook his head, trying to decide what he should do next. Kurt was obviously sick and probably needed to see a doctor. Blaine needed to get his fever down, get him into bed, and make sure he wasn't getting too dehydrated from vomiting. Should he call Kurt's dad? Take him to the infirmary? He had a feeling Kurt wasn't going to like either option.

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine began tentatively.

"Yeah Blaine?" Kurt said in response.

"As much as I'm enjoying hanging out on the cold tile floor of your bathroom, I'm thinking we should get you up and take you to the infirmary, okay?" asked Blaine, expecting resistance.

"The floor isn't cold. It feels good. And I'm not going to the infirmary. That nurse scares me." responded Kurt petulantly.

Blaine sighed heavily. "Kurt, the floor feels good because you are running a 103.3 fever which is precisely why you need to see a doctor. A fever that high isn't good, Kurt. Something could be seriously wrong with you."

"Not going..." Kurt answered tiredly.

"Okay then, would you rather I call your dad? We've got to do something, Kurt."

Kurt's eyes flew open at this comment, immediately looking at Blaine to confirm that he wasn't dialing his dad's number as they spoke. "Blaine, you can't. He's not well. He had a heart attack just a few months ago. He'll freak out if you call him. I'm fine."

Blaine rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. "Okay, I'll call Carole then."

"Won't do you any good. She's in Memphis until tomorrow night. Her sister's kid had a baby and she's visiting them."

Blaine was running out of options. "What would you suggest that we do then, Kurt? I'm not leaving you lying here on the bathroom floor."

"Help me get in bed. I'll sleep and hopefully I'll feel a lot better tomorrow."

Blaine sighed again. "And what if you get worse?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Then I'll consider going to the infirmary. If I get a lot worse. But I won't," finished Kurt with finality.

"Alright Kurt. I'll make you a deal. Non-negotiable. I'll put you in bed, but you need to take some medicine and do exactly what I tell you. I'll stay and keep an eye on you. I'm going to check your temperature again in a few hours after the Tylenol's had a chance to work. If it hasn't gone down or you seem like you are getting worse, I'm bringing you to the infirmary and you aren't going to fight me on it. Okay?"

Kurt sat for a second, seeming to think it over. He was so exhausted that he didn't have the energy to fight anymore. Plus, having Blaine serve as his doctor and take care of him didn't sound so bad. If he could just get some sleep, he was sure he'd be fine. And if the searing pain in his right side could chill out a bit, that would be even better. Kurt decided that this was his best option at the moment, so he opened his eyes and looked at Blaine. "Okay," he said simply. "It's a deal."

Blaine nodded, relieved that Kurt was at least willing to let him take care of him a bit. He quickly slipped into caretaker role, a role he was sadly all too familiar with. He's spent the summer after his freshmen year of high school caring for his Nana Betty after her hip replacement surgery. He'd wanted to help his beloved Nana, but he also relished the chance to get away from the bullying that seemed to be worsening on a daily basis. School was out, but the bullies that had made his life a living hell were still everywhere he went and after getting the crap kicked out of him a few times, he'd become scared to leave the house. So when his parents told him that they would need to leave him alone for a few weeks while they went to Cincinnati to help out, Blaine had jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to go instead.

"Okay, first things first. You need to take these," Blaine said, placing two Extra Strength Tylenol in Kurt's palm. "I'll get you some water."

"No," Kurt moaned. "I'll just throw them back up."

Blaine bent back down, handing Kurt a small paper cup with water. "That wasn't the deal. Just take them with a little sip of water and hopefully they'll stay down. We've got to do something to get your fever down, Kurt."

"Fine," Kurt agreed weakly, palming the pills into his mouth and taking a small, tentative sip of water, wincing as the pills slid against his raw throat.

"Okay," Blaine said, taking the half empty paper cup and throwing it away. "Now let's get you into bed."

Even in his weakened state, Kurt managed to raise an eyebrow at Blaine at his comment.

Blaine looked at him and laughed, shaking his head. "Not like that, Kurt. Not now at least. Rain check?"

"Rain check." Kurt answered.

"Alright, I'm going to help you up, okay? Just tell me if you feel dizzy or anything." Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's back and slowly helped him to his feet.

Kurt was on feet and almost standing straight up when he suddenly stopped, gasped, and bent over, dropping his hands to his knees.

Blaine's other hand went to Kurt's shoulder, steadying him. "Kurt? Kurt, what is it?" Blaine looked down to see Kurt's face twisted in pain, his hand grasping his right side. "Hey hey, let's sit you back down." Blaine continued, pushing down the lid on the toilet and easing Kurt back to sit down on it. Blaine knelt down in front of Kurt, bringing a gentle hand to his cheek. "Kurt, talk to me. What's wrong?"

After several tense seconds, Kurt let out a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Sorry, I'm okay now. Just got a stitch in my side, probably from sitting on the floor for so long."

"Not buying it, Kurt. Seriously, what's going on?" Blaine asked firmly.

"I don't know, Blaine. My stomach is hurting and it's worse when I stand up."

Blaine took a breath and tried to start what he knew would be a hopeless conversation. "Kurt, maybe we should..."

"No Blaine, I'm fine as long as I don't stand up all the way. Bed please." Kurt raised his hand, reaching for Blaine. Blaine sighed but decided not to argue until he had Kurt in a more comfortable position . He gently helped Kurt to his feet and put his arm around him, being grateful for once that being shorter than Kurt made it easier for him to hold Kurt up while Kurt stayed slightly stooped over. Kurt and Blaine walked hunched over to the bed and Blaine carefully sat him down on the bed before pulling back Kurt's duvet and comforter so that he could slide beneath the covers.

"Okay Kurt, lay down. Wait, do you want to change out of your uniform pants before you get in bed?" Blaine asked.

"No...too much work," Kurt mumbled. Blaine could see that the short walk to his bed had taken a lot out of him. Kurt was paler still and his face was damp from sweat. His forehead was tensed in obvious pain and he seemed weak and defeated. Blaine's hand went to his boiling forehead and stroked the damp bangs from Kurt's eyes.

"How you feeling, Kurt?" asked Blaine worriedly.

"Mhhm, awful. Just want to die." Kurt muttered, his eyes already closing again.

"Don't say that, Kurt. I've got an idea of something that might make you feel a little better. Wait here."

And with that, Blaine moved from his perch on the side of the bed and ran back to the bathroom, filling a small bowl with cool water and dampening one of Kurt's clean washcloths. He returned to the bedroom just in time to see Kurt start to retch. Blaine dropped the bowl of water and washcloth onto the dresser and quickly slid the trashcan from Kurt's desk over to his bedside, just before Kurt leaned over and coughed and vomited into the trashcan. Not much came up, but Kurt continued to cough and gag for several minutes before he stilled. Blaine felt helpless as he could only rub Kurt's back until the nausea passed and hold onto his shoulder in hopes of keeping Kurt from retching himself right off the bed.

Once he felt certain that the vomiting had stopped, Blaine spoke. "Kurt, you okay? Here, rinse your mouth out. It'll make you feel better" he urged, handing Kurt a chilled bottle of water that he had grabbed from his mini-fridge.

Kurt rinsed out his mouth, spitting the excess water into the trashcan. "Umm, so much for keeping down the Tylenol. Sorry you had to see that," he apologized hoarsely.

Blaine shook his head, surprised that his boyfriend was apologizing for getting sick. "Honey, you can't help it. It's okay. I'm just worried that you can't keep anything down. You're going to get dehydrated if this keeps up and I don't know how we are going to get your fever down without Tylenol."

Blaine reached for the washcloth and bowl of water that he'd sat on the nearby dresser. He carefully squeezed out the excess water, ensuring that it would not drip before gently resting it on Kurt's burning forehead.

Kurt let out a sigh as he felt a touch of cool water against his clammy forehead. He turned his head into Blaine's touch, sighing as Blaine dabbed at his cheeks and neck with the cool cloth. "That feels good," he told Blaine.

"Good, I'm hoping it will help cool you off a little. Kurt, when's the last time you kept any food or drinks down?"

"Umm, breakfast? I had a glass of orange juice and half a bagel. I was feeling sick at lunch so I didn't eat anything. I tried to drink a Jamba Juice smoothie, but I ended up throwing that up later." Kurt reported.

"Okay, well we need you to at least keep liquids down if you want to stay out of the infirmary. What if you tried a tiny sip of ginger ale?"

"Mhhm, don't know Blaine. I don't want to throw up again." Kurt mumbled weakly.

"I know, Kurt, but ginger ale is supposed to be good for nausea. Just try taking a tiny sip with another Tylenol, okay?" Blaine practically begged while grabbing a ginger ale from the fridge and pulling out another Extra-Strength Tylenol.

"Okay," said Kurt, simply too tired to keep arguing with Blaine. He quickly palmed the proffered Tylenol and took an even smaller sip of ginger ale than he had of the water only minutes earlier. "Better keep the trashcan there though," Kurt warned before he laid back against the pillows, closing his eyes.

"I will, Kurt. You should try to rest, I guess. Is there anything I can do?" Blaine asked while continuing to stroke Kurt's forehead and cheeks with the cool washcloth.

"Nope, just being here is good enough," was Kurt's mumbled reply.

Blaine bent down and placed a quick kiss on Kurt's temple. "Goodnight Kurt. Feel better, okay? Do you want the lights out?"

Kurt nodded, eyes still closed. When he felt the shift of the bed as Blaine stood up, his eyes opened again, looking panicked. He watched as Blaine left his side and walked towards the door. Before he could stop himself, he spoke. "Blaine? Don't leave okay? I need you here." Kurt blushed as he finished, feeling clingy and desperate for the slightly pleading quality he could hear in his voice.

"What?" said Blaine, looking back to Kurt in confusion. "Oh no, I'm not leaving. I'm just turning off the light, honey. I'm not going anywhere." Blaine flipped the light switch, allowing the room to darken, lit only by the slight glow of light coming from underneath the closed bathroom door. Blaine walked back towards the bed, sliding Kurt's rolling desk chair until it rested right at Kurt's bedside. Blaine had just lowered himself into the chair and was about to resume stroking Kurt's hair when he heard Kurt's shy voice in the dark.

"Blaine? I know I'm probably covered in germs and look disgusting, but could you...would you mind laying with me? Just for a little while until I fall asleep. I...I just..." Kurt trailed off, feeling shy despite being emboldened enough by the dark to ask for something he'd been longing to do ever since Blaine had first slept in his bed after the Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza. Kurt smiled a bit in the dark as he remembered that night.

_FLASHBACK – NIGHT OF RACHEL'S PARTY_

_Blaine had been so drunk that he was practically incoherent by the time Kurt had managed to get him back to his house. He'd gotten him upstairs with no small amount of help from Finn. Kurt wasn't sure what to do with Blaine once Finn had deposited him on Kurt's bed and headed for his own room, saying goodnight and quickly shutting the door behind him. Blaine was sprawled across the bed, half awake and half asleep. _

"_Blaine? Do you want to borrow some clothes to sleep in?" Kurt had asked the semi-conscious boy on his bed. Blaine looked adorable, Kurt couldn't help but noticing. It was nice to seem him in something besides his Dalton blazer. Kurt loved the way Blaine dressed, classic with a small touch of urban hipster as evidenced by the slim cut of his dark wash American Outfitter jeans. Even better, his hair had been released from its gelled prison and Kurt was able to see Blaine's rumpled curls in all their glory. _

"_Mhmmff, no. I just wanna take my shoes off...They're stuck." Blaine slurred, trying and failing to pull off his boots. _

"_Here, let me help you," Kurt said, sitting down next to Blaine and reaching down to undo the laces on his boots before slipping them off easily._

"_Oh wow, you did it," said Blaine in drunken amazement. He reached up and placed a hand on Kurt's cheek. "Kurt, you're the best, you know that? I'm so glad you transferred to Dalton." Blaine smiled and his hand drifted from Kurt's cheek and back to the bed. His eyes closed and within seconds, he was snoring softly._

_Kurt stayed frozen in place for several seconds, his cheek still tingling from Blaine's touch. The moment seemed oddly intimate and for a second, Kurt allowed himself to hope, to dream again of what could be with Blaine as his boyfriend. As he looked down at Blaine's snoozing form, reality invaded his thoughts again. Who was he kidding? Blaine was wasted. He wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning. Not two hours ago, Blaine had his tongue down Rachel Berry's throat. As much as Kurt wished otherwise, he and Blaine were friends, nothing more. _

_With a sigh, Kurt got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to change into his pajamas and follow his nightly moisturizing routine. The warm water and the ritual of carefully washing, toning, and moisturizing his skin relaxed Kurt and he found himself laughing as he remembered Blaine's duet with Rachel. "God, it should be illegal to look so freaking cute and sound that good even when totally drunk," he thought with a wry chuckle. He finished his pre-bedtime preparations and went to the closet to grab a sleeping bag, deciding the gentlemanly thing to do would be for him to sleep on the floor and let Blaine have the bed to himself._

_Kurt had just grabbed a pillow from the bed and was about to turn out the lights when Blaine spoke. "Kurt? Where are you going?" he asked sleepily._

"_I was just about to turn out the lights. I've got a sleeping bag on the floor." Kurt answered. _

"_You don't have to sleep on the floor. This is your bedroom. There's plenty of room for two," Blaine pointed out practically._

"_Um, okay. If you're sure," Kurt said quickly, glad that the dim light hid his blushing. He flipped off the overhead light and quickly slid beneath the covers on the other side of the bed, being careful not to brush against Blaine. Kurt could feel the warmth from Blaine's body in the dark, and found the sensation oddly comforting, even if they weren't touching._

"_Night, Kurt," Blaine said sleepily. "Thanks for letting me stay over."_

"_Goodnight, Blaine. Anytime," Kurt answered, smiling at his good fortune in the darkness. _

_The next morning, Kurt had awoken just after 8 am feeling warm and comfortable. His eyes flew open as he remembered the night before and the fact that Blaine was sleeping in his bed. He looked over to see that Blaine had migrated closer to him during the night and was currently snuggled up against Kurt, his head close enough that they were sharing the same pillow. His hand was resting gently against Kurt's forearm. Kurt held his breath, scared to even breathe for fear of disturbing this moment. He smiled as he looked at Blaine's face which looked so relaxed and...young in sleep. Unconsciously, Kurt's hand went to Blaine's temple to brush a lock of hair from his eyes. Kurt froze as Blaine made a sound and began to stir. After a few seconds, Blaine mumbled something in his sleep and rolled even more towards Kurt until his face was inches away from Kurt's. _

_After staying still for several seconds in order to ensure that Blaine was soundly asleep once more, Kurt carefully extricated himself from Blaine's grasp and slid out of bed. He quietly snuck downstairs to the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of water and another of Gatorade, thinking of the massive hangover Blaine was sure to have when he awoke. Next, Kurt reached into an overhead cabinet to retrieve a bottle of Excedrin, thinking Blaine would likely need it as well. He could hear his dad humming away in the shower and smiled at his tuneless singing. Kurt's vocal talent most certainly did not come from his dad, but from his mother instead. He crept back upstairs and set the drinks and Excedrin on his bedside table, looking down to see Blaine was now laying diagonally across the bed and still out like a light. Kurt smiled as he watched him sleep for a few seconds before retreating to his closet to pick out an outfit. He wanted to look his best when Blaine woke up. Maybe it was silly, but sharing a bed with Blaine the night before had given Kurt a small glimmer of hope. Sure, they were just friends for now. But maybe one day, they could be something more. _

_END FLASHBACK_

Blaine smiled, grateful for Kurt's request as Blaine had wanted nothing more than to take Kurt in his arms since he'd first seen him lying on the bathroom floor. "You don't look disgusting, Kurt. You're beautiful. And sure, I don't mind a little cuddling. Scoot over."

Kurt slid closer to the wall and watched as Blaine gingerly lowered himself onto the bed, trying not to jostle the bed for fear that it would make Kurt's stomach hurt worse. He grabbed a pillow and propped himself up against the backboard before reaching for Kurt in the darkness. "Come here," he said simply. Kurt scooted back towards Blaine, and Blaine gently directed Kurt's head until it was settled against his chest. He wrapped his arm around Kurt', gently rubbing his back in the dark, wincing at the  
>feel of Kurt's much too warm skin. "Sleep, Kurt," he directed. "I'll be here when you wake up." Kurt sighed and allowed his eyes to slip closed, feeling safe and warm.<p>

**So what do you think of the story so far? I still haven't told you exactly what's wrong with Kurt yet, but there are enough clues here that you could probably figure it out if you wanted to. I do promise that you'll get a diagnosis in the next chapter. If you are enjoying this story so far and want to see more Klaine h/c and fluff, please review! Thanks for reading :)**


	3. And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going

**Hello again! I'm glad you are still enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Special thanks to recent reviewers EllaCrain, Deanfan2011, ColferFan1217, Kurtsie, ASiriuslyGleekyTimeLord (awesome user name, by the way), Maize Babes, thunderincrimson, Senuna, & Anonymous on 7-5-11 . Big thanks to all the recent subscribers as well. I'm up to 16 faves and 63 alerts so far. Wow! Would it be selfish of me to ask you to keep it up?**

**You might have noticed that each chapter is taking its title from a song that's been performed on Glee. I'm not doing this to suggest that this is a song fic or that these songs in any way provide mood or lyrical accompaniment to the chapter. Instead, the song title is chosen because the title fits the theme of that chapter of the story. For example, the last chapter was entitled "Try a Little Tenderness" as it mainly focused on Blaine trying to make Kurt feel better through cuddling and well...tenderness. This chapter title is in reference to Blaine having to repeatedly reassure a very sick and disoriented Kurt that he's not going to leave him. But I do have songs in mind for each chapter that provide a mood and/or lyrical accompaniment to the story. Definitely not necessary for reading the fic, but in my opinion, it will only add to the experience (although I'm biased because I absolutely cannot write without music). With that in mind, here are the pairings I'd suggest for the first three chapters of this story.**

**Prologue – Everything Will Be Alright by The Killers (Sample lyrics: "I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night" and "Everything will be alright") Blaine is worrying about where Kurt is when he stands him up and decides to search for him (hence the coming to find you no matter what it takes). Once he finds Kurt, he's repeatedly trying to reassure Kurt and himself that Kurt will be alright while he's internally panicking. **

**Try a Little Tenderness – When Your Mind's Made up by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (Sample lyrics: "When your mind's made up, there's no point trying to fight it. When your mind's made up, there's no point trying to change it. So if you ever want something, when your call comes, then I'll come running.") This song captures the frustration Blaine feels when he wants to help Kurt but knows that his mind's made up that he won't go to the infirmary. Blaine finds himself waiting until Kurt gives in, until Kurt's "call" for help comes so that he can go running to help him. Towards the end of the song, the music swells and you can just feel how hard it is for the person to sit back and not be able to do something for the person he loves when all he wants to do is coming running to his aid. It is just hauntingly beautiful.**

**And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going - Cold Water by Damien Rice (Sample lyrics: "Cold, cold water surrounds me now. And all I've got is your hand. Lord, can you hear me now? Lord, can you hear me now? Lord can you hear me now or am I lost?") This song more closely mirrors Kurt's perspective. He's feeling trapped inside his body in that nightmare word between sleep and awake, being weighted down by his fever and illness. And the only thing that seems to be anchoring him to reality, to the present, is Blaine's hand which is why he panics and seems to be blindly searching for someone every time Blaine isn't touching him. **

**I have a few editorial notes about this chapter. I'm an obsessive researcher when it comes to making my stories as accurate as possible, both with regards to character traits and personalities, continuity with show canon, and medical accuracy regarding any injuries or illnesses. To that end, I did some searching around on the internet to try to get a specific answer on whether or not Dalton Academy is a boarding school. Some Season 2 episodes like The Sue Sylvester Shuffle seem to suggest that Dalton Academy isn't exclusively a boarding school as Kurt makes an offhand comment about bringing Finn warm milk before bed every night, suggesting that they are living in the same house even after Kurt transferred to Dalton. However, in A Very Glee Christmas, Blaine and Kurt sing "Baby It's Cold Outside" in the common room where Kurt is studying when it is clearly dark outside, suggesting he's still at Dalton in the late evening. Later in that same episode, Will Schuester also comes to Dalton to visit Kurt. Given that Dalton is in Westerville and Will lives in Lima, I'm thinking that he would have just waited to visit Kurt at home in Lima after school if Kurt was actually going home from Dalton every evening. If you search Dalton Academy on the Glee Wiki, you'll see several other references to episodes that suggest that Dalton is at least a partial boarding school, but may accept some day students as well. Finally, Lima and Westerville are both actual locations in Ohio that are approximately 90 miles away from one another, which my GPS said is about a one hour, forty-five minute drive with traffic. So given that length of commute, I feel pretty good about my assumption that Kurt's a commuter student that boards at Dalton during the week and then goes home Friday- Sunday. Yes, I realize how OCD this probably sounding to most of you, but the lack of continuity was bugging me. Then again, continuity has never really been Ryan Murphy's strong suit, has it? Okay, let's finally get back to the story, shall we?**

_**He wrapped his arm around Kurt, gently rubbing his back in the dark, wincing at the  
>feel of Kurt's much too warm skin. "Sleep, Kurt," he directed. "I'll be here when you wake up." Kurt sighed and allowed his eyes to slip closed, feeling safe and warm. <strong>_

Blaine woke up to the feel of a buzzing coming from his pocket. He looked around in the dark, feeling disoriented for a second before feeling a searing heat on his chest. He looked down, seeing the vague outline of Kurt's head snuggled cozily against his chest. "Shit," muttered Blaine to himself. Kurt was sick and he was supposed to be taking care of him. He reached down tentatively to brush Kurt's forehead and wasn't surprised to find that it was boiling hot. As Blaine stretched to reach for his phone in his pocket, he noticed with concern that his entire shirt was damp from what he guessed was Kurt's sweat. He pulled out his phone, seeing two missed texts from his roommate Wes.

_**From Wes (9:48 pm): **__Hey dude, where did you go? It's almost curfew, better hurry back. Don't want you and Kurt getting in trouble when we've got that big Warblers performance next Monday. _

_**From Wes (10:09 pm): **__Blaine, where are you? I managed to cover for you during room checks. I told the resident director that you were in the shower. You owe me!_

Blaine let out a breath of relief that since Kurt was a commuter student, the RD didn't check his room at curfew. They would have been in trouble for sure if they'd been caught sharing a bed together, even though Blaine had a good excuse. Speaking of which, he needed to figure out what was going on with Kurt. He grabbed the thermometer from the bedside table and turned to Kurt, brushing back his hair and softly calling out to him. "Kurt?" Blaine started tentatively. "Hey, I need to take your temperature. Open up."

"Mmm," Kurt moaned sleepily, opening his mouth while still half asleep. Blaine inserted the thermometer and grabbed his phone to type out a quick text to Wes.

_**To Wes (10:13 pm): **__Hey Wes, thanks for covering for me. I'm in Kurt's room. He's really sick and I'm taking care of him. I think I'm going to have to take him to the infirmary, so I don't know when I'll be back to the room. _

As Blaine was pressing send on the text, the thermometer beeped. Blaine grabbed it out of Kurt's mouth, using the light from his iPhone to read the display in the dark. 104.2. Blaine looked at twice, thinking he had to be misreading it. He felt sick at the thought of Kurt getting so much worse in such a short amount of time. Blaine reached for the bedside lamp and turned it on, casting the room in soft light, allowing him to get a better look at his sick boyfriend.

Once the light was on, Blaine could instantly tell that the display on the thermometer had been accurate. Kurt's face was flushed and his entire upper body was damp with sweat. He had started to move restlessly in his sleep, presumably disturbed by Blaine's shifting away from him in bed. Blaine knew immediately that Kurt needed to see a doctor right away, if not take a trip to the ER. He would have to present a convincing argument to Kurt, as this was one fight he was not willing to lose, not with Kurt's health at stake.

Blaine brought his hand back to Kurt's cheek and began to gently stroke it as he tried to rouse Kurt. "Kurt? Hey honey, I need you to open your eyes for a few minutes."

"Mmffhh," Kurt mumbled, attempting to roll away from Blaine's touch so he could continue to sleep uninterrupted.

"Come on, Kurt. I know you are tired but I just need you to wake up for a few seconds, okay?" Blaine called, more insistently this time.

Finally, Kurt's hand went to his face as he rubbed his eyes sleepily before looking up at Blaine. "Blaine?" called Kurt confusedly. "Ughh, why is it so hot in here?" he asked drowsily. He reached down and touched his damp undershirt. "Why am I all wet?"

"Shh, it's okay, Kurt. You're hot because your fever is spiking. I just checked it and it's over 104. You're wet from sweating. Honey, you are getting a lot worse. We've got to get you to the infirmary, okay?" blurted out Blaine, expecting resistance.

But Blaine got no resistance from Kurt, an experience that somehow frightened him more than if Kurt put up a big fight. Instead, all Kurt said was "okay" quite meekly.

"Alright babe, do you think you can walk all the way there if I help you or would you rather I get the nurse and see if she can come to you?" Blaine asked gently.

"It's too far...Don't wanna move," Kurt slurred, his eyes half-closed again.

"Okay honey, I'll see if she can come to you instead." Blaine took the washcloth from the bedside table and wet it again, laying it gently over Kurt's forehead, hoping to cool him off a bit until the nurse could help him. Kurt moaned softly as he felt the cool cloth against his burning skin. He began to shift uncomfortably in the bed, trying to get away from the dampness before deciding to take off his sweat-soaked shirt.

Blaine watched as Kurt tried and failed to take off his shirt, his eyes still half closed and sleepy. "Here, let me help you," Blaine directed, easing Kurt into a half-sitting position and carefully peeling off his sweat-dampened shirt. "Do you want me to grab you another shirt?" he asked.

"Mhmm, yeah. Tank top. Too hot for anything else. Top drawer in my dresser." Kurt muttered.

Blaine nodded and began to rummage in Kurt's top drawer, blushing slightly as he realized that Kurt stored his tank tops and undershirts with his surprisingly colorful array of boxer-briefs, Blaine grabbed for a plain black ribbed tank top that was near the top of the pile and quickly brought it back to Kurt, helping him sit up enough to ease it over his head and pull it down over his feverish torso. Blaine noticed that Kurt's skin had erupted into goosebumps across his chest and arms, presumably from the collision of his sweat-dampened bare skin with the cool night air. As Blaine pulled down Kurt's shirt, he noticed him starting to shiver slightly.

"Mhmm...I'm cold. And hot. Blaine, how can I be cold and hot at the same time? I don't like it." Kurt said, his teeth starting to chatter slightly as chills overtook his body.

"I know, baby. I know. It's miserable. It's just from you running a high fever. You're getting chills. It's going to be okay, though. The nurse will help us get your fever back down, okay?" Blaine briefly wrapped himself protectively around Kurt, running his hands up and down Kurt's now bared arms in attempt to soothe his shivering.

"Kurt? I need to leave you alone for a few minutes so I can go track down the nurse. Are you going to be okay without me or should I try to see if Wes or someone can come sit with you until I get back?" Blaine asked worriedly, noticing that Kurt seemed to be more miserable and confused with each passing minute, likely as a result of the creeping fever that appeared to be going nowhere but up.

"Don't...need a babysitter. Just sick... Just hurry back... Only want you anyways." Kurt mumbled, grabbing Blaine's hand in his and squeezing it tightly in his.

"Okay, Kurt. I'll be right back," said Blaine, pressing a quick kiss to his temple. "Don't move, okay? Just stay in bed. I don't want you passing out. Here's your phone. I've got mine on me, so just call me if you need anything. I should only be gone for five minutes, okay baby?" Blaine could hear himself rambling on and on, yet he felt powerless to stop as his chest was currently seized with worry at the thought of leaving Kurt for even a few minutes in his current state.

"'Kay...just go. Hurry," Kurt slurred, his eyes closing again as he fell into a fitful sleep. Blaine gave Kurt's shoulder a quick squeeze before standing up and leaving the room. He broke into a quick jog as soon as he reached the empty, quiet halls. The infirmary was located at the other end of the large dormitory on the third floor of Dalton Academy. Blaine jogged up the steps, taking them two at a time, wanting desperately to get back to Kurt as quickly as humanly possible. As he reached the third floor and rounded the corner, he saw the soft glow of the lights from the infirmary window come into view. He burst through the door, breathing heavily and obviously startling the nurse practitioner on duty.

"Goodness, can I help you?" asked the middle-aged woman whose name badge read Amelia Whitestone, NP. "Are you asthmatic?" she asked the wheezing, sweating student in front of her who sounded as if he'd just completed a 5K. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Sorry...no, I need help. Not...for me. Just ran...from dorm on...1st floor," Blaine managed to get out between gasps. He stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, trying to make sure the information he was giving was coherent. "My friend, Kurt. He's a new commuter student. He's really sick. He's been throwing up all afternoon and now's he running a high fever. It was 103 and he took some Tylenol, but he threw it up. But then he took another Tylenol but his fever's still 104 now and he seems like he's in a lot of pain and I just...I don't know what to do. Does he need to go to the hospital?"

"Whoa, whoa..." the NP cut in, sensing the student's panic. "Okay, back up. Where is Kurt now? I'll need to examine him first before we can decide about the hospital."

"He's in his room. 116. I can take you there." Blaine offered, feeling relieved that the NP seemed to be taking his concerns seriously.

"Okay, and what did you say your name was again? I recognize your face from the Warblers performances, but I don't know that I've ever treated you before."

"I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

"Nice to officially meet you, Blaine. You did the right thing by coming to get me. Let me grab some supplies really quickly and I'll walk back to Kurt's room with you." The NP grabbed a small black bag that contained a portable vital signs machine, a few common medications, and an IV starter kit, as it sounded like her patient could use all of the above if he was truly as sick as his friend described.

Blaine led the way back to Kurt's room, walking as fast as he dared, the NP stomping heavily after him. He glanced at his watch, noticing that already 10 minutes had past since he'd left Kurt's room. His stomach was tied in knots at the thought of Kurt laying alone in the dark shivering and in pain.

As Blaine swung open Kurt's bedroom door, he was relieved to see that Kurt was still laying in the bed as Blaine had left him. His eyes were closed, but Blaine could see that his forehead and torso were covered once again in a thin sheen of sweat. Worse still, Kurt was moving restlessly in his sleep, his body tangled in the sheets and duvet while his head moved back and forth across the pillow, seemingly searching for someone or something he couldn't quite seem to find in his semi-conscious state.

Blaine was back by Kurt's side in an instant. He knelt next to Kurt's bed, bringing a hand to Kurt's right shoulder while his other hand found his left cheek and cupped it gently. "Kurt? Hey, I'm back. I've got the nurse with me and she's going to check you out okay? How are you feeling?"

"Blaine? Where'd you go? It's too hot. Let's go swimming." Kurt mumbled incoherently.

Blaine's eyebrows shot up to his forehead. He turned to the nurse, panicked. "He's not even making sense. He was talking to me just fine less than 15 minutes ago."

Nurse Whitestone simply nodded at Blaine's assessment, pulling out an ear canal thermometer and quickly checking her patient's temperature. She took the reading twice, once in each ear just to confirm the reading. 104.6. She turned to Blaine. "Okay, we're going to need to get him to the hospital. His fever is 104.6. If it gets much higher, he's at risk of febrile seizures and he's obviously got some sort of serious infection for his temperature to be up this high."

Blaine ran a hand over his face, trying hard not to completely fall apart while Kurt needed him. "Okay," Blaine responded. "What do I need to do?"

Nurse Whitestone responded to Blaine while she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Kurt's arm and connected his finger to a pulse oximeter. "Can you tell me what his symptoms are? I don't think I'm going to be able to get much out of him at the moment."

Blaine nodded. "He told me that his stomach starting hurting him this morning and he's been feeling nauseous since lunchtime. He's thrown up everything he's tried to eat or drink since breakfast. His right side seems to be hurting him the most. He couldn't even stand up straight enough earlier tonight to walk from the bathroom to his bed. He also mentioned a headache."

At the sound of Blaine's voice, Kurt started to stir again. "Blaine?" Kurt moaned. "Blaine, it hurts. Make them stop. Tell them to leave me alone. I wanna go home."

"Shh, it's okay, Kurt. I'm right here. I know it hurts, honey. The nurse is here and she's trying to help. We're going to take you to the hospital, okay? Just hang on." Blaine tried to reassure Kurt, but he could see that most of what he was saying wasn't getting through to Kurt. Finally, he decided that physical reassurance might be more effective and took one of Kurt's hands in his while his other hand stroked Kurt's hair, hoping that the calming motion might soothe him more than his words were currently able. Kurt's body stilled at Blaine's touch, and he stopped struggling and laid still on the bed, allowing the NP to finally get an accurate blood pressure reading.

Nurse Whitestone frowned at her patient's vitals. Kurt's blood pressure was quite low at 90/70 and his heart rate was elevated at 120 beats per minute. Both were possible signs of dehydration and/or sepsis. She had a sneaking suspicion that her patient's diagnosis was appendicitis, possibly even complicated by an abscess or peritonitis, a condition she was all to familiar with having seen 1 or 2 cases of acute appendicitis in her position in the infirmary each year for the last ten that she'd been working at Dalton Academy. If Kurt indeed had appendicitis, he had to have one of the most severe cases she's seen so far, meaning that his risk of rupturing his appendix was probably quite high if it hadn't already. She decided to perform one final test to confirm her suspicions before calling for an ambulance to transport her patient to the nearest ER.

"Okay Kurt. Hey, I need you to open your eyes for just a minute so that I can examine you and ask a few questions," Dr. Whitestone called loudly, trying to rouse her patient to consciousness. She turned to Blaine. "Would you mind turning on the overhead light?"

Blaine reluctantly removed his hands from Kurt's hand and hair, standing to cross the room to switch on the overhead light. Kurt's reaction was immediate. First, his hands reached for Blaine in the dark, struggling mightily to make physical contact with him once again. When his hands did not find Blaine's, he reluctantly pried open his eyes which Blaine could see were still glazed over in haze of fever, pain, and exhaustion. Kurt could vaguely make out Blaine's profile in the dim light, watching in panic as Blaine headed for the door once again.

"Blaine? Don't leave. I'm sorry. Come back. I'll be good, I promise. Blaine, please? It's hot and cold and hurts and I need you," Kurt choked out, his eyes filling with tears. He felt so miserable. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd done to make Blaine mad, but he knew Blaine must be really pissed to leave him when he was sick in bed. Their date! That's right. He'd stood Blaine up for their date after making such a big deal out of it. He was such a bad boyfriend. He didn't deserve Blaine which must be why Blaine was leaving him. Probably for Jeremiah or some Banana Republic salesperson.

"Blaine? I'm sorry I stood you up for your date. I'll never ever do it again, I promise. Just don't leave," Kurt said, his voice breaking off into a sob.

Blaine flipped on the overhead light switch and practically sprinted back to Kurt's bedside, a hard lump forming in his throat at Kurt's guilt and panic. At the moment, he didn't really care about Nurse Whitestone or Dalton Academy's rules on fraternization between students or the fact that Kurt had basically just told their audience of one that they were dating. All he cared about at the moment was making sure that Kurt knew that Blaine wasn't mad at him and wasn't leaving him. Ever.

Blaine quickly side-stepped around Nurse Whitestone who seemed to be making a show of digging through her equipment bag, nothing in her demeanor suggesting that she was shocked by the implications of what her patient had just said. Blaine knelt down at the head of Kurt's bed, taking Kurt's face in both of his hands and gently wiping away the tears that streamed down his face with a swipe of his thumb.

"Kurt? Baby, look at me. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'm not mad at you, sweetheart. You are really sick right now which is why you are feeling so miserable, but we're going to take you to the hospital so they can help you. But Kurt, I promise that I'll be with you the whole time, okay?" Blaine dropped his left hand to the bed and took Kurt's hot hand in his, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently. "You feel my hand, Kurt? I'm right here. I'm not letting go again."

Blaine held his breath, waiting to see if his words were getting through to Kurt at all. Kurt's face relaxed minutely as soon as Blaine took his hand. Kurt's eyes finally found Blaine's, with him seeming to truly _see_ Blaine for the first time since he'd returned to the room with the nurse.

"Blaine? You promise you won't leave me again?" Kurt pleaded shakily. "Because it hurts really bad and I need you."

"I promise, Kurt. Now do you think you can let the nurse examine you? She needs to ask you some questions, okay?"

Nurse Whitestone nodded her thanks to Blaine for calming her patient and began her exam. "Okay Kurt, can you point to the part of your stomach that is hurting the most? Where's the pain the worst?"

Kurt slowly reached down to point to a spot two-thirds of the way between his belly button and right hip bone. The nurse nodded as this only confirmed her suspicions given that her patient was pointing to the area directly above the base of the appendix.

"Okay, Kurt. I'm going to examine your stomach. I'm going to have to poke around a bit, but I want you to tell me if it hurts more when I push down on a spot or when I let go, okay?"

Kurt nodded, his eyes open wide in anticipation of the pain that he was sure was to follow.

The nurse reached towards Kurt's torso, gently lifting the hem of his undershirt to expose his abdomen. She watched as her patient's abdominal muscles tightened involuntarily just before she began to press against the area that he'd just shown her as the spot that hurt the most.

Kurt gasped as the nurse pushed down firmly against his stomach, feeling as if he was being stabbed with a rusty, serrated knife.

"Okay, I know that hurts. Just try to breathe. Now, I'm going to remove my hand and I want you to tell me if it hurts worse than when I'm pushing down, alright?" directed the NP.

Kurt nodded, his face tight with pain and his hand crushing Blaine's as he struggled to keep from crying out.

Without warning, the nurse withdrew her hand from his abdomen. Kurt had been anticipating a sense of relief as the pressure was removed from his side, but instead, he felt as if the rusty serrated knife he'd already been stabbed with was being twisted violently, scrambling his organs into one white-hot ball of agony. Kurt sucked in a shuddering gasp and let out a strangled cry, his whole body tensing as the pain shot through him, causing spots of black to appear around the edges of his vision as he fought to stay conscious long enough to ride out the wave of pain.

Blaine watched Kurt's face as the nurse palpitated his abdomen, swearing that Kurt's every wince and gasp of breath caused Blaine physical pain as well. He'd never felt so helpless as he watched Kurt's body jerk in pain, tears streaming down his face involuntarily. Blaine dropped his forehead to Kurt's as he wiped away the tears that continued to pool on his cheeks.

"Blaine...hurts," Kurt managed to squeak out between breaths as the pain crested and finally started to subside slightly.

"Shh...I know, Kurt. I know. You're going great. We're going to get you to the hospital so they can help with the pain, okay? Just keep squeezing my hand. I'm right here." Blaine choked out, feeling perilously close to tears but trying desperately to keep his emotions in check so that he could continue to reassure Kurt.

"Okay Kurt, I'm sorry. I know that had to hurt. It looked like it hurt more when I took my hand off your stomach than it did when I pressed down, am I right?" asked Nurse Whitestone.

Kurt could only nod, not trusting his voice at the moment.

"Okay, that's all I need to do right now. Listen, I'm almost certain that you've got appendicitis and I'm worried that it might rupture soon because your fever is spiking. I'm going to call an ambulance because we need to get to you to the hospital for tests and possibly surgery right away. In the meantime, I'm going to start an IV because you are dehydrated. Once it is in, I can give you some fluids and medicines for nausea and fever through your IV so we can hopefully get you feeling a little better. I'll also need to notify your parents. Can you give me their names and a phone number to reach them at?"

Kurt's eyes went wide at the sound of what was to come. Ambulance. Hospital. Appendicitis. Possible surgery. But most of all, he worried about what that news would do to his father who'd been hospitalized only months before with a life-threatening arrhythmia. His dad had done a lot to lower his cardiac risk factors with Kurt's help (and no small amount of complaining at having to give up his jelly donuts and mountain of salt), but he still suffered from occasional bouts of irregular heartbeats that seemed to be linked mostly to stress, His last arrhythmic episode which was thankfully mild compared to the episode that had landed him in the ICU had been brought on by the stress of finding out that Karofsky had directly threatened Kurt's life. Kurt looked to Blaine in panic, hoping that he could communicate his fears with only a gaze since he didn't currently have the strength to speak his fears aloud.

"Umm, actually, would it be okay if I contacted Kurt's dad for him? I'm pretty close with his family and I think it might worry Kurt's dad less if the news came from me." Blaine asked smoothly, knowing instantly what was worrying Kurt.

Nurse Whitestone nodded her head in agreement. "That should be okay as long as Kurt doesn't mind. Why don't I go ahead and call the ambulance and then I'll see about getting his IV started? Blaine, I'm assuming you are going to want to accompany your...friend to the hospital?" the NP asked sympathetically. Typically, she wouldn't allow a student to accompany a patient off campus without a faculty chaperone, particularly not after curfew. However, she knew enough of Blaine even though she'd never personally treated him to know that he was the lead singer of the Warblers and a model student who all the teachers and staff seemed to universally adore. More importantly, she could tell that her young, very ill patient was finding comfort in Blaine and given his fragile state, she wanted to do what she could to keep her patient calm and conscious. Besides, some rules were just made to be broken.

Blaine nodded gratefully. "Yes, I'd like to ride with him in the ambulance if I can. He's from Lima and it's going to take his dad awhile to get here, and I don't want him to have to be alone." Blaine turned to directly address Kurt. "Hey Kurt, hear that? I'm going to ride with you to the hospital, okay? I'll call your dad once we get you to the hospital so that he can meet us there. Just hang on for a few more minutes, Kurt. You're doing great."

Kurt could only nod as he still did not trust his voice to not break in pain if he tried to speak. He could hear the nurse in the background calling for the ambulance and repeating a flurry of technical information that he could only assume referred to him. He allowed her chattering to blend into the background and focused his attentions on Blaine's hazel eyes which were currently boring into his intently.

"Hey honey, how you doing?" Blaine asked quietly, intimately, making it clear that these words for Kurt's ears only. Blaine gently brushed back Kurt's bangs as he spoke, his eyes never leaving Kurt's.

"Dunno...scared. Tired. Hurting. You?" Kurt answered honestly.

Blaine's jaw clenched involuntarily at the broken sound of Kurt's voice as he answered, sounding pained, exhausted, and utterly miserable.

"Worried. Just worried about you. Frustrated that I can't do more to help. It's...Kurt, it's killing me to see you in so much pain and to not be able to fix it. I...I just wish...I want to trade places with you right now. You don't deserve this. Not after all you've already been through in the past few months." Blaine answered fiercely, wishing with all his heart that he truly could trade places with Kurt.

Tears were flowing freely from Kurt's eyes now, spurred by a mixture of pain, fatigue, and overwhelming love for his boyfriend. Blaine dropped his forehead to Kurt's, pressing his temple to Kurt's as the pad of his thumb gently swiped against Kurt's cheeks, brushing away the tears that were falling in earnest now. For a moment, they stood frozen in time, breathing the same breath as one. In the past few hours, Blaine and Kurt had developed an immediacy, a connection that went beyond words or physical connection, and Kurt continued to cling tightly to this connection to Blaine which felt as if it was the only thing tethering him to consciousness at the moment. Kurt could feel the creeping blackness at the edges of his vision, simply biding its time until the pain and fever overtook him completely. And while Kurt welcomed any respite from the pain which seemed to be increasing tenfold with every passing minute, he was terrified of sinking into the blackness, lest his connection with Blaine be broken, allowing Kurt to sink like an anchor into the deep black depths of his unconscious mind and body.

**Hi again! What did you think of this chapter? As I said above, I like to make sure things are as medically accurate as possible in my fanfics. So, the exam the NP does in this chapter and Kurt's responses are actually part of the standard physical exam for suspected appendicitis. The area two thirds of the way between the belly button and and the right hipbone is called McBurney's point. Kurt's pain eventually localizes there which tells us that the base of his appendix is inflamed. Kurt tenses his abdominal muscles unconsciously before the NP even has a chance to touch his abdomen which is also known as involuntary guarding, another not so great sign. Finally, Kurt experiences rebound tenderness, meaning that his pain gets worse when pressure is withdrawn rather than applied to his abdomen. All of this is to say that poor Kurt isn't out of the woods by any means yet. Kurt's disoriented and in and out of awareness here which makes him all the more desperate for Blaine's voice and touch and we'll see in upcoming chapters how both characters tolerate even the briefest of separations. Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far and let me know if there are any plot threads or character moments you'd like to see in upcoming chapters. I welcome all suggestions and constructive criticism. **


	4. Back to Black

**Title: There's No Place Like Home**

**Chapter: 4 – Back to Black**

**Characters/Pairings: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Klaine Pairing**

**Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Sick!Kurt, Angst, Fluff, Romance **

**Chapter Word Count: 4,777 words**

**Rating: PG-13/Teen**

**Warnings: Kurt Whump, Discussion of Medical Procedures, Some Sexual Banter in Later Chapters, Mild Profanity**

**Spoiler Alert: This story takes place after the events of Original Song (2x16) but before Kurt returns to McKinley at the end of Born This Way (2x18). Spoilers through the end of Season 2. In my version of this story, Dalton is a boarding school and Kurt typically boards there during the week but goes home on the weekends in order to break up the long commute. New, but established Klaine relationship.**

**Summary: When Kurt misses a date with Blaine, Blaine decides to go investigating. He wasn't expecting to find his poor boyfriend slumped against the toilet in the bathroom, looking awful. Will Kurt be okay? Klaine of course, with some Sick!Kurt and Klaine fluff to come.**

**Suggested Musical Accompaniment: **__**"Nothing Left to Lose" by Mat Kearney**.

**Sample lyrics: **"S**omething's in the air tonight. The sky's alive with a burning light. You can mark my words something's about to break. And i found myself in a bitter fight while i've held your hand through the darkest night. Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon."**

**I just really like the image here of Blaine struggling to hold himself together (hence the bitter fight with himself for control of his emotions) while holding Kurt's hand through what will likely be one of the longest nights of Blaine and Kurt's life. The earlier lines about the something being in air tonight and knowing that something's about to break refers to that feeling of nameless dread Blaine felt earlier when Kurt didn't show up for their date, and he just instinctively knew that something was wrong. Don't the lyrics fit this chapter perfectly? Mat Kearney is amazing like that!**

_**For a moment, they stood frozen in time, breathing the same breath as one. In the past few hours, Blaine and Kurt had developed an immediacy, a connection that went beyond words or physical connection, and Kurt continued to cling tightly to this connection to Blaine which felt as if it was the only thing tethering him to consciousness at the moment. Kurt could feel the creeping blackness at the edges of his vision, simply biding its time until the pain and fever overtook him completely. And while Kurt welcomed any respite from the pain which seemed to be increasing tenfold with every passing minute, he was terrified of sinking into the blackness, lest his connection with Blaine be broken, allowing Kurt to sink like an anchor into the deep black depths of his unconscious mind and body. **_

The NP finished her phone call and turned her attentions back to her ailing patient. "Okay Kurt, the ambulance is on the way. They should be here in about five minutes. I need to start an IV while we are waiting, okay?" Nurse Whitestone pulled out a rubber tourniquet, several alcohol prep pads, and an IV starter kit. She took Kurt's left arm and wrapped the tourniquet around it, carefully palpitating his hand and arm as she attempted to feel for a visible vein. She suspected that he would be a hard stick and indeed she found that to be the case as Kurt's veins were mostly collapsed due to dehydration. At last, she found a small vein that ran between his second and third knuckles. She quickly swabbed the area and uncapped the syringe, warning her patient as she did so while saying, "Okay, you're going to feel a big stick."

Blaine knew that Kurt was typically frightened of needles and expected Kurt to show some reaction to the insertion of the intravenous line. Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand reassuringly and watched his face for some glimmer of recognition or fear. Instead, Kurt barely winced as the line was inserted, seeming as if he was a million miles away despite his close physical proximity with Blaine. While Blaine felt a knot in his throat at the mere thought of Kurt being in pain or fear, somehow this lack of responsiveness was more frightening to Blaine than anything else. Blaine watched in morbid fascination as the IV line was secured with gauze and tape and connected to a bag of saline solution which the nurse suspended from one of the four posters of Kurt's headboard.

Nurse Whitestone spoke up again as she finished connecting the intravenous line. "Okay, I'm going to inject some Tylenol into your IV line to help get your fever down, Kurt. Are you still experiencing a lot of nausea?" she asked as well.

Kurt nodded and the NP removed another syringe from her bag. "This medication is called Zofran and it should help with the nausea and vomiting. It might make you a little drowsy, but I want you to try to stay awake until we can get you to the hospital, okay?"

Blaine watched Kurt carefully, noting that his eyes were halfway closed already. He could literally feel his boyfriend slipping away from him, and it was pure hell to have to sit and watch while being unable to do anything to stop it. Blaine mentally chided himself for the millionth time in the last hour for not doing more to help Kurt. He should have known that Kurt wouldn't be late for their date. He should gone to Kurt's room sooner. And once he was there, he certainly should have insisted that Kurt get medical attention right away. And if that didn't make him a bad enough boyfriend, he'd _fallen asleep_ while his boyfriend was sick and running a high fever when he should have been keeping a closer eye on Kurt and checking his temperature every half hour. If Kurt wasn't okay... If something ended up being seriously wrong with Kurt... Well, Blaine didn't know if he would be able to forgive himself for that.

Blaine looked back up at Kurt's face and felt a sharp stab of pain and guilt when he realized that tears were silently streaming from Kurt's eyes and his whole body was shaking slightly with the effort of his sobs. Blaine dropped his face to Kurt's again, his face hovering concernedly above Kurt.

"Kurt? Sweetheart, why are you crying? What is it?"

Kurt choked back a sob and drew shaky breath before responding. "Just...hurts...so much. I feel awful, Blaine. I...I...wanna...go home. Blaine...please...make it stop.

Blaine was sure that his heart was literally breaking as he listened to Kurt choke out his plea. He couldn't do this...how could he be strong for Kurt when fear had so strongly gripped his throat that he could barely breathe? Blaine might seem like the confident one to the outside world, the one that had it together on the surface, but deep down, Blaine was a _coward._ Kurt had been and always would be the strong one. When the bullying had gotten bad at his old school, Blaine had simply run away while Kurt had been brave enough to face down Karofsky. And when Kurt had asked Blaine to accompany him to talk with Karofsky about the violent and unsolicited kiss, Blaine had been the one shoved into the fence, leaving Kurt to come to his rescue when it should have been the other way around. Kurt was _fearless_.

What had Blaine told Kurt when the bullying began to escalate? _Courage. _Blaine would have to borrow Kurt's courage for awhile. He owed him that much. He had leaned on Kurt for support so many times. Now, Blaine knew it was his turn to step up. Not for himself, but for his beautiful boyfriend who was terrified and in severe pain and needed him to be the strong one for once.

Blaine took a deep, steadying breath before cupping Kurt's cheek, wanting to make sure that he truly heard every word. "Kurt? Honey, look at me. Open your eyes." He gave a sad smile as Kurt's lids fluttered open and his eyes locked on Blaine's. "I know how hard it is to stay calm right now, but sweetheart, I promise that I won't let anything happen to you, okay? The paramedics are going to be here any second and they'll give you medicine to help with the pain. I know you want to go home, Kurt, but you need to go to the hospital so that they can help you feel better. But I'll be there and your dad will come and meet us too and I promise that I'll stay with you the whole time. You've just got to hang on for a few more minutes okay? Can you do that for me, Kurt? Please honey..." Blaine finished, his voice breaking slightly with barely suppressed emotion.

Blaine continued to stroke Kurt's cheek gently as he stared into Kurt's eyes, trying to communicate his love and support with every fiber of his being. As he finished speaking and waited breathlessly for Kurt's response, a wayward tear tracked down Blaine's nose and he roughly brushed it away, taking another shuddering breath as he tried to keep the crumbling facade of his emotions in check a little longer.

Blaine watched as Kurt gazed up at him for several seconds, seeming to weigh every word. Kurt bit the inside of his lip and took a deep breath and set his jaw, seeming to physically gather himself for the battle ahead. Blaine shook his head slightly in utter amazement at the strength his boyfriend continued to demonstrate, even in the worst of circumstances.

"Okay, Blaine. I'll try," Kurt said, the shakiness of his voice providing the only hint of how difficult Blaine's request truly was for him at the moment. "But can you...do something for me, Blaine?" Kurt continued.

"Sure, Kurt. Anything. What can I do?" Blaine asked, dizzy with relief at not only the fact that Kurt agreed to try to hang on a bit longer, but also at the possibility of being doing something, no matter how small, to make Kurt feel better.

"Can you hold my hand? I...I just...I need something to hold on to," Kurt finished, his eyes watery again as he tried to explain just how much he needed Blaine at the moment.

Blaine felt a punch to the gut at Kurt's request. It was such a simple thing to ask for, yet it meant so much to Blaine to know that Kurt needed him as an anchor.

"Of course, baby," Blaine replied, bending down to plant a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead again feeling a jolt of shock at the surprising amount of heat radiating from his skin, before lacing his fingers through Kurt's and squeezing his hand reassuringly. His eyes widened as Kurt squeezed his hand back with a surprising amount of force. "I know it hurts, Kurt. Just squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, okay?"

Kurt could only nod. The pain in his side continued to swell and showed no signs of abating anytime soon and it was taking everything Kurt had just to keep his eyes open. He felt even more woozy than he had only minutes earlier and could feel the heaviness of his body pulling him down, begging him to give into the darkness that was waiting at the corners of his field of vision. But Kurt could see through Blaine's shaky pretense of calm and knew how scared Blaine truly was. As hard as it was for Kurt to hold it together, he couldn't imagine how he'd feel if their roles were reversed and Blaine was the one running a high fever and in pain.

Kurt remembered a few weeks ago when Blaine had cut his finger with a scalpel during Anatomy class while they were dissecting a frog. Kurt could have sworn that his heart stopped beating when he saw the scary amount of blood on Blaine's uniform shirt. Kurt had practically dragged Blaine to the infirmary while visions of hundreds of stitches, partial amputations, and blood transfusions danced irrationally through his head. He'd felt giddy with relief when the nurse had cleaned out the wound and declared that while it was fairly deep and a prodigious bleeder, it was small enough that she felt confident in closing it with some special medical super glue and a butterfly bandage, meaning that Blaine was spared the torture of getting stitches. Blaine had barely flinched throughout the ordeal, but the experience had only highlighted to Kurt how much he cared for his new boyfriend and how it would kill him to see anything bad happen to Blaine.

Blaine and Kurt were both interrupted from their private thoughts by Nurse Whitestone speaking up. To be honest, Blaine had been so focused on Kurt for the past few minutes that he'd forgotten that they were not alone. While a part of him realized that he should probably be a bit embarrassed at sharing such an intimate moment with his boyfriend in front of a Dalton Academy staff member, Blaine couldn't really find it in him to care at the moment.

"Kurt? I just received a text from the security guard out front that the paramedics have just arrived on scene. They are parking and will be escorted to your room in just a minute. I need to go ahead and take your vital signs again before they get there so I can let them know how you are doing. Can you open up so I can take your temperature?"

Kurt wordlessly opened his mouth, allowing Nurse Whitestone to slide it into place. Blaine gripped the end of it before Kurt could even raise a hand, holding it in place while they waited for it to beep. Blaine watched the digital display as the numbers quickly raced upwards. 102. 103. 104. _"Oh god, why isn't it stopping?"_ thought Blaine in panic. _"Kurt's fever is already so high. Please don't let it have gone up. Dear god, what did the nurse said about seizures and fevers?" _Blaine felt his pulse thrumming wildly in time to the rapidly increasing numbers. Blaine was just about to start hyperventilating when blessedly, the thermometer gave a beep. Blaine snatched it from Kurt's mouth and confirmed the digital readout within seconds. 104.9. "_Oh holy shit,"_ was Blaine's only thought.

He quickly handed the thermometer to the nurse, careful not to read the numbers out loud for fear of alarming Kurt. He watched her reaction carefully, expecting her response to be as panicked as he felt inside. But she merely nodded grimly and jotted something down in a small moleskin notebook before clipping a small pulse oximeter to Kurt's index finger. Next, she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his bared upper arm and began to inflate the cuff manually. The pulse oximeter started to beep only seconds later, but Nurse Whitestone's hands were consumed with measuring Kurt's blood pressure. She turned to Blaine. "Blaine, could you read me the two numbers off the pulse oximeter. The top one should say bpm. What is the number next to it?"

Blaine looked down, grateful for something that he could do to help. "Umm, it says 136 bpm. Is that bad?" he asked, his anxiety over Kurt's condition growing with each passing minute.

Nurse Whitestone frowned slightly before replying. "It's a bit higher than I'd like, but that can happen when a patient is in a lot of pain. What does the bottom number say? The one that has O2% next to it."

"It says 85%," Blaine answered.

"What?" asked the nurse sharply. "No, no, that can't be right. Let me see." She released her hold on the blood pressure cuff, unwrapping it quickly from Kurt's arm before leaning over to read the small screen on the monitor. She frowned more deeply this time before removing the small oximeter from Kurt's finger. "Let's try the other hand," she directed. "I don't think that was an accurate reading."

Blaine reluctantly released his hold on Kurt's right hand, allowing Nurse Whitestone access to Kurt's other hand. Kurt reacted immediately, moaning and trying to withdraw his hand from the nurse's grasp.

"Shh, it's okay, Kurt. I'm still right here. She just needs to check your vital signs real quick and then I can hold your hand again, okay?" Blaine reassured Kurt while bringing his hand to Kurt's hair and stroking his sweat-dampened bangs from his forehead.

Nurse Whitestone looked down at the monitor as it beeped again, scowling at the reading. 84% oxygen saturation. She looked to her young patient's face and was surprised to see that while his face was bright red with the obvious flushing of a high fever, his lips did have a slight purplish tint that had been partially obscured by the redness of the surrounding skin.

Blaine watched the nurse carefully, clearly noticing that something was wrong. "What did it say?" he asked worriedly.

Nurse Whitestone sighed. "I got the same reading as you did. It is measuring how well he is oxygenating. It should be above 95% but it is currently at 84% which means he's not getting enough oxygen. I'm glad that the paramedics are on the way up because we need to give him supplemental oxygen and I don't have any with me."

Blaine swallowed hard, a million questions forming in his mind at once. He was about to ask the nurse to explain _why_ _exactly_ Kurt wasn't getting enough oxygen when it was his stomach and not his lungs that seemed to be causing him trouble, but blessedly he was interrupted by the sound of the paramedics knocking at the door to Kurt's room.

"Oh thank god," Blaine said in obvious relief as Nurse Whitestone rose to let the paramedics in and give them her report. Blaine turned back to Kurt, removing the pulse oximeter so that he could wrap Kurt's right hand in his once again. "Kurt, you did it. The paramedics are here now and we're going to get you to the hospital, okay?"

The paramedics descended on Kurt at once. Blaine slid from his perch on the bed to give them more room to examine Kurt but continued to kneel near the head of Kurt's bed, all the while keeping a tight grip on Kurt's hand.

"Hi, Kurt? My name is Adam and I'm one of the paramedics who's going to be taking care of you tonight, okay? Nurse Whitestone told me that you're running a high fever and in a lot of pain. Can you show me where your stomach is hurting the worst?"

Kurt drew in a sharp breath and steeled himself mentally for the next onslaught of pain that he was certain would accompany the paramedic's examination. He was reluctant to part with Blaine's hand for even a few seconds, so instead he chose to carefully point with his left hand, being careful not to disturb the IV tubing that was fed into a vein between the knuckles of his left hand.

The medic nodded as Kurt carefully pointed out the spot and gingerly lifted the hem of his ribbed tank top to palpitate his abdomen. The paramedic noticed the involuntary guarding of the abdomen almost immediately and decided to spare the poor patient additional pain by doing a thorough abdominal exam, instead only applying slight pressure to the area in question in order to judge whether the abdomen was rigid and check the severity of the patient's tenderness. However, even the slightest pressure provoked an immediate and intense response from the young boy.

Blaine felt tears prick his eyes once again as Kurt cried out in obvious pain while his hand crushed into Blaine's own. His eyes drew shut as his entire face tensed and he watched with concern as Kurt gasped and moaned, seeming to be locked in his own private hell of agony. Blaine winced in sympathy, wishing there was something, anything, he could do to ease his boyfriend's pain.

"Shh, I know, Kurt. I know, honey. Squeeze my hand. That's it. Breathe. Come on, Kurt. You've got to breathe, sweetheart." Blaine soothed, growing more concerned by Kurt's lack of oxygen with each gasping breath.

The other medic looked up in concern as the small handheld monitor she had been fiddling with suddenly started to sound an alarm. "Adam? His O2 sats are down to 81% and pulse is tachy at 140."

Adam nodded and began to do a flurry of things at once with the practiced ease of a career paramedic. "Right Jill, we need to give him O2 - 3 liters per minute through a non-rebreather mask. He's almost finished the liter of saline that the NP hung, but let's go ahead and bolus another liter. I'm hoping that if we can get his pain a little better managed, his O2 sats may come up a bit because I think he's hyperventilating due to guarding in his abdomen. We're going to need the cooling blanket because temp was 104.9 about two minutes ago, but let's just wait until we get him to the rig to do that."

The young female paramedic seemed to find Adam's authority reassuring and began to follow the steps he'd prescribed, starting by removing a small tank of oxygen from her bag and connecting it to the tubing before placing the mask over her patient's nose and mouth and directing him to breathe deeply. Meanwhile, Adam had removed a small vial of medication from his bag and was carefully drawing the contents into a syringe.

"Kurt? Are you on any medications regularly? Do you have a known drug allergies? Any health problems I should be aware of like diabetes or heart problems?"

Kurt nodded his head. "I take...Claritin-D...allergic to...Amoxcil...pink stuff...No health..problems," he managed to get out between gasps of pain, his voice sounding weak and shaky to Blaine.

"Okay, great. I'm going to give you some Morphine in your IV. It should help with the pain and start working within a minute or two. It may burn a little bit when it is going in and make you feel nauseous or sleepy, but I want you to try as hard as you can to stay awake and talking to us. Right now, you are breathing too fast because of the pain, so I want you to try to focus on taking slow, deep breaths. Can you do that for me?"

Kurt nodded, weak with relief at the thought of getting even a temporary respite from the overwhelming pain. He watched as the paramedic slipped the syringe into a port in the IV tubing and slowly depressed the lever, causing a slight tingle and burn to spread up Kurt's hand and arm.

Blaine watched quietly as the two paramedics continued to work to prepare Kurt for transport. Despite the flurry of activity happening all around them, Kurt and Blaine continued to only have eyes for one another. Blaine waited breathlessly, hoping that the medication would start to kick in soon to relieve Kurt's pain.

The first sign that Kurt was feeling better came when Blaine noticed Kurt slightly relaxing the death grip he had on Blaine's hand. Next, he watched as the tension slowly left Kurt's face, being replaced with a weariness that only partially captured the ordeal that Kurt had endured in the past few hours. Blaine brought a hand to Kurt's temple, stroking his hair. "Hey honey, is the medicine starting to help a little bit?" he asked gently.

Kurt nodded. He brought his free hand to his face, tugging down the oxygen mask until it was resting on his chin, wanting to speak without the plastic barrier. "Better...but still...hurts," he began. "Blaine...can...huh...ca..." Kurt sputtered, his breathing starting to become more uneven and his gasps sounding more desperate.

Blaine shook his head firmly and reached up to replace the oxygen mask over Kurt's face. "Shh, Kurt. Just breathe right now. Don't try to talk, honey. You need to keep the mask on, okay?"

Kurt looked at Blaine in frustration, several hot tears streaming from his eyes onto his cheeks.

"Kurt...shh, it's okay. Just breathe for a second and then you can tell me, okay? I just don't want you to wear yourself out, sweetheart," Blaine soothed, correctly reading the frustration that was rolling off of Kurt in waves as even a simple sentence required more physical effort than he could currently muster.

Kurt and Blaine were interrupted by Adam. "Okay Kurt, we're ready to move you over to the stretcher. Can you slide to the edge of the bed for us? Don't try to get up, just let us lift you, alright? You're going to be pretty unsteady after the Morphine I gave you and we don't want you passing out."

Blaine was forced to step back as the paramedics maneuvered into position and prepared to transfer Kurt to the waiting stretcher than had been pulled to the edge of the bed. Kurt gave resistance as Blaine gently pried his fingers from Kurt's grasp.

"Kurt? Hey, I just have to move for one minute. Once they get you on the stretcher I can can hold your hand again, okay? I'm going to ride with you to the hospital." Blaine was careful to reassure Kurt, not wanting a repeat of Kurt's earlier reaction when in his fever-induced delirium, Kurt was convinced that Blaine was leaving him when he'd simply stood up to turn on the overhead light.

The paramedics moved Kurt with gentle efficiency, but it still wasn't careful enough to prevent Kurt's tender side from being jostled. As the pain flared while he was being lowered to the stretcher, Kurt felt the darkness descend. Kurt let out one final gasp and cry of pain before his world went back. His last thought was of Blaine.

"_Blaine, I tried. Please don't leave. I need your hand so I don't get lost in the dark. Please find me. Oh god, Blaine. I'm sorry,"_ Kurt thought as his the world slowly faded from view until his body was blissfully weightless and free from pain, floating on a sea of endless blackness.

**End Chapter Note: Yeah, about that ending (ducks out of view)... Please don't hate me. The chapter title is "Back to Black" after all, so I couldn't exactly end with puppies and rainbows. This chapter and the next will probably have the most angst, but I promise the payoff will be worth it in the end when it comes to the Kurt/Blaine relationship and the big things that are to come for them. I promise to add in some fluffy bits in the next couple chapters as well to balance out the torture that I'm putting poor Kurt and Blaine through. But overall, what did you think of this chapter? Was it worth the wait? I've got some medical background through a mixture of personal and professional experiences so the medical terminology I used should be fairly accurate. I'm shooting to post the next chapter in this story by Friday, so you won't have to wait as long for the next installment. I figured it is only fair after the evil cliffhanger I just gave you. **

**In the meantime, if you are just dying to read more, I finally got around to creating a masterpost for all of my fics on LiveJournal which you can access here: ****.#cutid1**

**For all you readers, I've also been writing two Criss/Colfer RPFs (real people fictions) about Darren Criss and Chris Colfer that would make great companion pieces to this fic. Since technically does not allow RPFs (although I'm aware that lots of people break this rule, especially in the Glee forum), I'm only posting them on my LJ account for now. If you are interested in reading them, they are listed under my masterpost under the heading Glee – RPFs. If you do make it over to my LJ site to read, please, please drop me a comment so that I know that you stopped by. I welcome all constructive criticism and am greatly motivated to update sooner and write more by reader comments and reviews. And on that note, why don't you click the little button below and tell me what you think of the latest chapter? Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Keep Holding On

**Title: There's No Place Like Home**

**Chapter: 5 – Keep Holding On**

**Characters/Pairings: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Klaine Pairing**

**Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Sick!Kurt, Angst, Fluff, Romance **

**Chapter Word Count: 4,832 words**

**Rating: PG-13/Teen**

**Warnings: Kurt Whump, Discussion of Medical Procedures, Some Sexual Banter in Later Chapters, Mild Profanity**

**Spoiler Alert: This story takes place after the events of Original Song (2x16) but before Kurt returns to McKinley at the end of Born This Way (2x18). Spoilers through the end of Season 2. In my version of this story, Dalton is a boarding school and Kurt typically boards there during the week but goes home on the weekends in order to break up the long commute. New, but established Klaine relationship.**

**Summary: When Kurt misses a date with Blaine, Blaine decides to go investigating. He wasn't expecting to find his poor boyfriend slumped against the toilet in the bathroom, looking awful. Will Kurt be okay? Klaine of course, with some Sick!Kurt and Klaine fluff to come.**

**Suggested Musical Accompaniment: "Kettering" by The Antlers. More of a mood piece than anything else, although the lyrics are related to a caregiver and patient in the hospital. The whole album "Hospice" is amazing and I can't recommend it highly enough. **

**Author's Note: Hello again! Hope you are enjoying the story so far. Sorry for the delay. As much as I wanted to work on this story in the past month or so, my master's thesis deadline has been fast approaching and most of my writing energies unfortunately have had to go towards working on it instead of my WIP fanfics. But the good news is that I'm determined to see the story through and to that end, I've finished not one but TWO lengthy chapters and outlined the rest of the story through its conclusion. Not to mention that this chapter is pretty lengthy (enough that it probably could have been divided into two chapters) but I kept it as one to preserve the flow of the story. Even better news: Chapter 6 is already posted as well. Enjoy!**

_**As the pain flared while he was being lowered to the stretcher, Kurt felt the darkness descend. Kurt let out one final gasp and cry of pain before his world went back. His last thought was of Blaine. **_

"_**Blaine, I tried. Please don't leave. I need your hand so I don't get lost in the dark. Please find me. Oh god, Blaine. I'm sorry," Kurt thought as his the world slowly faded from view until his body was blissfully weightless and free from pain, floating on a sea of endless blackness. **_

Blaine sat breathless as they ventured through the cool, rainy night to the nearest hospital. The trip seemed to both continue endlessly and be over all too soon. And through it all, Kurt slept (if you could call it sleeping) fitfully, his cheeks flushed and his face continuing to contort into a grimace of pain every so often, as if Kurt couldn't get away from the reality of what was currently happening to his body, even in unconsciousness. Throughout their journey, Blaine tightly clutched Kurt's hand, intending to keep his promise that he wouldn't let go, that he would be there for Kurt, even if Kurt was too out of it to appreciate the gesture at the moment.

Before Blaine knew it, they'd arrived at Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital and Blaine was climbing out of the back of the ambulance. He immediately began walking aside the gurney carrying the impossibly still frame of his boyfriend, stubbornly continuing to hold onto his hand despite the awkwardness of coordinating his grasp on Kurt's hand and walking aside the moving gurney while trying not to run into any doctors or trip over his own two feet. Somehow he managed and he watched as one of the medics briefly conferred with a nurse before being lead to an open room. As the nurse pushed open the door for the medic, Blaine felt a slight shift in pressure against his hand and looked down to see Kurt slowly blinking his eyes open against the bright fluorescent lights overhead.

"Wha-... Blaine? Where? Wha- what happened?" Kurt mumbled sleepily but with a slight edge of panic to his voice.

"Hey... hey Kurt. You're okay," Blaine started in a rush to comfort his boyfriend, his free hand brushing a sweat-dampened lock of hair from Kurt's eye. "We just got to the hospital, okay? The doctors are going to help you now. Just try to relax. How are you feeling?"

"Mhmm... c-c-cold. So cold in h-here. And oh god...my-my side. Hurts. So much. Oh god Bl-Blaine. My dad is going to freak...and...and," Kurt stuttered out before breaking into a sob as his eyes widened and he remembered what had happened so far this evening. His puking. Blaine putting him in bed. The fever. The hazy, half remembered thoughts of panicking that Blaine was leaving him. The nurse saying that he needed to go to the hospital, that he might need surgery. And then... He couldn't remember much of anything after that.

Blaine leaned in and began to gently stroke Kurt's impossibly hot cheek in an attempt to calm him. "Shh, Kurt. Hey, it's going to be okay, sweetheart. I know it hurts, but that's why you are here. The doctors and nurses can help you, alright? And I'm going to call your dad in just a minute, and I'll make sure he doesn't freak out, okay? Everything is going to be okay, Kurt. Just try to relax and breathe."

The nurse that had led the way into the room took a step towards the bed and began to assess her sick patient, instantly taking in the sheen of fever on his brow, the gasping breaths that could only come from pain, the tight grip he had on his right side, and the even tighter grip that he had on a young man's hand. His friend? Boyfriend? She couldn't be sure. "Hi...Kurt, is it? My name's Bridget. I'm going to be your nurse tonight in the ER. Why don't we get you moved into the bed so that I can examine you, okay? Once we get you settled into the bed, I can get you some blankets and medicine for the pain to make you more comfortable.

Kurt looked uncertainly at Blaine who nodded and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Kurt looked up at the nurse who looked about Mr. Schuester's age and nodded in agreement. "Okay," he said softly. He attempted to lift his upper body into a semi-seated position and groaned audibly, falling back against the pillow with a whimper as his hand crushed into Blaine's with surprising force.

"Whoa, whoa...easy," called Bridget as she placed a restraining hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Don't try to get up. Let us do the work for you. Your only job is to lay there and look cute, okay?" Bridget said sympathetically, but with a slight lilt as she said cute, making it clear that she was attempting to lighten the tense atmosphere.

Blaine watched quietly as Kurt's face slowly relaxed from a grimace into something resembling a weak smile. He took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "T-t-this is as cute as I can m-manage under the circumstances," Kurt managed, continuing to shiver slightly as he spoke.

Bridget and one of the medics chuckled in response before sliding into position, pushing his gurney as close to the ER bed as possible before pressing a button to release the side rail. They gathered the sheet underneath Kurt and prepared to slide his body to the waiting bed. One of the medics paused and looked down at Kurt.

"Okay...you got to let go of his hand for just a second so we can move you, okay?" he said bluntly. Kurt sighed audibly but allowed Blaine to slowly release his hand, feeling frustrated at the sudden loss of contact.

"Okay, let's move on 3. 1-2...3," the nurse directed as they smoothly lifted Kurt's body from the paramedic's gurney and swung it onto the ER bed.

Kurt let out a punctured wheeze as his body was jolted slightly while being dropped onto the bed. Kurt's eyes closed unconsciously as he felt a sharp stab of pain in his side that perfectly coincided with the throb of his pulse which he could hear as if through a tunnel as his body began to feel liquid and the bed beneath him disappeared into a haze. He was aware of hands on him again and people talking around him, but their voices echoed as if coming from a great distance away and his body wouldn't budge despite his half-hearted attempts to respond. It just hurt. So. Much. And everything was easier, less scary, less real, through the haziness surrounding him.

A hand on top of his, squeezing. "Kurt? Hey baby, can you hear me? Come on, Kurt. Open your eyes." Kurt tried, but it was just too hard. He concentrated instead on squeezing the hand back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, not sure if the movements in his head actually managed to sync up with his body.

Another hand, this time against his forehead. Cold. Soft. "Whew, he's burning up. What was his last temp? That high? Okay, we're going to need the cooling blanket. I'm just going to check his vitals and then grab the doctor for a quick exam." Kurt was aware of movement, of people scuttling around the room before various implements were wrapped around him and inserted into various parts of him and it was all so confusing that it was starting to make Kurt dizzy. He heard someone call out a string of numbers in a serious voice. He heard the door open as another person entered. Or was the person leaving? Kurt couldn't seem to keep track. It was all rather disconcerting. Scary, even. But for some reason. Kurt wasn't panicking. His body felt light, buoyant. But even though he was floating, there was something keeping him tethered just enough that he wouldn't completely fly away. That thing was the sensation of a cool hand in his, squeezing just enough so that Kurt could feel it while a gentle thumb brushed over his knuckles in small, soothing motions. Kurt caught a whiff of deodorant, musk, and something that he could only describe as bottled sunshine and suddenly remembered who the hand belonged to. Blaine. Blaine was here. And just like that, Kurt didn't want to be floating anymore. He wanted to be still, to open his eyes and see Blaine, to reach his hand up to stroke Blaine's irresistibly adorable curls and know that his body would respond as he intended. He focused all his energies on opening his eyes and was rewarded when they blinked open, revealing the blurry figure of Blaine leaning over him worriedly.

"Kurt? Hey, you're back," Blaine exclaimed with a flood of relief. "I think you...you passed out on us again."

Kurt managed a weak nod in response. "Sorry...it - it just h-hurts. A lot. Worse when I m-move."

"I know it does, honey. That's okay. I'm just glad to see your eyes open again. You scared me," Blaine let out in a rush. "How you doing? Are you cold? You're shaking," He reached his free hand out and began to rub it up and down Kurt's upper arm in a misguided attempt to warm him up, judging from the amount of heat Kurt's body was putting out. "The nurse said you're still running a pretty high fever. She went to get the doctor, so they should both be back in just a second."

"Y-y-yeah, I'm cold. And h-hot. Wha-," Kurt said in surprise as he looked down at his body for the first time, noticing that his white undershirt had been exchanged for a hospital gown and that the arm that Blaine wasn't currently stroking was attached to an impressive array of monitors. Before he could respond or even process this really, the door swung open and Bridget strode through the door, followed by an older gentleman in a white coat who was obviously the doctor.

The doctor strode to the edge of the patient's bed. "Hi Kurt, I'm Doctor Baron. Can you tell me a little bit about why you are here? I'm going to do a quick exam while we talk, okay?" he asked as his hands settled the ear pieces of his well-worn stethoscope into his ears and placed the other end on his patient's chest, listening carefully. He swiftly removed the ear buds and took a look at the patient's vital signs on the monitor, frowning slightly at the numbers.

Kurt looked at the doctor with a slightly fearful look, but began to tentatively speak with Blaine's encouragement. "Y-yeah, I guess it s-st-started this morning. My stomach was hurting and I t-threw up and it's just been getting worse. The p-pain is awful and I'm d-d-dizzy and I think I passed out a few times b-because of the pain." Blaine nodded his silent agreement to Kurt's statement.

"Okay," the doctor said in what Kurt assumed was supposed to be a reassuring manner. "Can you show me exactly where the pain is?" he asked, while simultaneously lifting the hem of Kurt's hospital gown.

"Yeah, it h-hurts here," Kurt said while touching a spot on his lower right side, his body flinching involuntarily from the slight pressure from his hand.

The doctor nodded and began to palpitate Kurt's abdomen without warning, and then all Kurt could feel was pain. White hot, searing pain that made his whole body clench and his forehead break into a cold sweat at the sudden shock. He was vaguely aware of a strangled sounding cry that broke into a panting moan, but it took him several seconds to realize that the sound was coming from _him_.

Blaine's hands were on him in seconds. He felt the cool rush as Blaine stroked his hair briefly before reaching down to wipe away a tear that Kurt wasn't aware had come from him. Through it all, he could feel Blaine's warm breath against his cheek as he whispered in Kurt's ear. "Breathe honey. Just breathe, Kurt. I know...I know it hurts. Just hang on, okay? You're doing great." Blaine's voice broke a little as he murmured the same reassurances over and over.

"Okay, okay...all done. Sorry about that," the doctor spoke in a voice that made it clear to Kurt that he wasn't really sorry for causing Kurt such immense pain. "It looks like a pretty clear case of appendicitis to me. I'm going to order a CT scan to confirm and have the nurse draw some blood as well to check your white blood count for signs of infection. In the meantime, I'll order some medicine for pain and to bring your fever down a bit more, okay? I'll be back to check on you once the scans are in." The doctor rapidly typed a few notes into a small laptop sitting on the counter at the far end of the room, looking up briefly to confer with the nurse. "Bridget, any drug allergies or interactions?"

"No interactions, just an allergy to amoxicillin by patient report. He's had 5 mg of Morphine in route," Bridget answered, only once glancing down to confirm what she was saying with the hastily scribbled notes that she'd jotted down when the paramedics had handed the patient off.

"Fine. Let's give him 10 mg more of Morphine and bolus another liter of saline, but keep an eye on his sats and BP and let me know if they start to drop. I'm going to go ahead and put in the request for a surgical consult. Let me know when he gets back from CT," Doctor Baron barked out before hastily exiting the room, without so much as stopping to explain to Blaine or Kurt exactly what was going on.

Bridget made an apologetic face and shook her head slightly after watching the doctor beat a hasty retreat from the room. "Sorry guys, we're really busy tonight. Why don't I...let me get Kurt his pain medicine and then I can go over everything with you two, okay?" she continued sheepishly. She quickly opened up a locked cabinet a retrieved a vial, drawing the necessary medication into a syringe before injecting it into one of Kurt's many IV ports. Next she hung another clear bag of fluid and attached it to the tubing, allowing it to also run into Kurt's arm. Finally, she inserted another syringe in order to withdraw a small amount of blood which she then injected into a purple-topped laboratory tube.

Blaine was relieved to feel the pressure to his hand lessen within minutes of the medication being injected and looked up to see that some of the tension had left Kurt's face as well. Kurt opened his eyes briefly and managed what Blaine assumed was intended to be a reassuring smile which in reality looked weak and a bit lopsided from a combination of pain, fatigue, and the growing haziness induced by the morphine Kurt had just been given.

"Okay, right," the nurse said as she came to a stop in front of Kurt's bed and extended her hand to the boy sitting vigil next to her patient. "We haven't been formally introduced. What's your name?" she asked.

"Blaine...I'm Blaine," the boy said, reaching up his free hand to shake hers in response.

"I'm guessing you're the...boyfriend?" Bridget asked, taking a stab in the dark.

Blaine smiled warmly, relieved that the nurse seemed so understanding and there was no need for him to articulate his relationship with Kurt to a complete stranger. "Yeah...that's me."

"Okay, great. So Kurt, Blaine, here's what's going on. We're pretty sure that you've got appendicitis, Kurt, which means your appendix is inflamed and infected. I'm going to draw some blood to check to see if you show signs of infection and then we're going to get a CT scan to allow the doctor to visualize the appendix. If it looks bad, we'll probably try to get you into surgery tonight. It's usually a pretty simple procedure. Often the surgeon will do it laproscopically which means he makes a few tiny, keyhole incisions instead of one large incision which cuts down on the pain and recovery time. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to make sure of the diagnosis. In the meantime, I'm going to be giving you fluids and antibiotics to help with the infection and medications for pain and nausea to keep you comfortable." She looked at her patient, seeing that he was wide-eyed.

"Sorry, I know that's a lot to take in at once. Do you have any questions for me?" she asked.

Kurt looked at Blaine uncertainly before responding. "I don't...I don't think so," he spoke tentatively, his voice slightly slurred as a result of the dose of morphine that he had just received. Blaine shook his head as well, agreeing that he also had no questions at the moment, despite the fact that his head was spinning from the nurse's spiel.

"Alright then. I'm going to bring this blood to the lab and get things set up for the CT scan. In the meantime, Blaine, here's the call button. If you need anything – if Kurt seems to be in a lot more pain or having trouble breathing or anything like that – just push this button and I'll be right in to check on you, okay?"

"Okay, will do," Blaine replied, his voice slightly shaky. He looked up as Bridget made her way towards the door. "And Bridget? Thanks for taking the time to explain what's going on. I...we appreciate it."

Bridget broke into a smile at the look of gratitude from her patient and his boyfriend. It was such a nice change of pace to be taking care of these polite teenagers instead of her usual mix of drunken homeless men who needed a place to sleep it off and hypochondriac drug seekers expecting Demerol to cope with the pain of ingrown toenail. "Of course...you just press that button if you need anything, okay dear? I'll see you both in a few minutes."

As the door swung closed behind the nurse, Blaine turned his full attentions back to his sick boyfriend. "Hey Kurt, how you feeling? Anything I can get you, sweetheart?" he asked gently while stroking Kurt's hair.

"Mhhm, a little better," Kurt mumbled sleepily. "Just c-c-cold. Blanket?" he requested.

Blaine nodded before reaching down for the extra blanket folded at the edge of bed at Kurt's feet which Bridget had thoughtfully left behind after determining that Kurt's fever had gone down enough to keep him from the horrors of the cooling blanket that Blaine had witnessed firsthand in the ambulance. He gently unfurled the blanket and wrapped it around Kurt's shivering frame, pulling the edge of the blanket up and tucking it under Kurt's chin. He rubbed his hands up and down Kurt's upper body gently to generate some extra heat before resuming his hold on Kurt's hand. "There you go. Better?"

Kurt nodded. "Much better. The medicine is helping. My side doesn't hurt so bad. Getting k-kinda sleepy, actually."

Blaine smiled. "Good, that's good, honey. You should try to get some rest if you can. I should probably go ahead and call your dad."

Kurt's eyes widened a bit at the mention of his dad. He knew his dad wasn't going to take the news very well and desperately wanted to protect him from any stress that could possibly trigger his heart condition after witnessing his dad landing in the hospital with an arrhythmia for the second time after he learned of Karofsky's death threats against Kurt.

Blaine immediately sensed Kurt's fear and began to reassure him. "Kurt, we've got to tell him what's going on. He's your dad. But I can wait to give him all the gory details until he gets here and can see for himself that you're okay...deal? You can even talk to him yourself if you want to reassure him," Blaine offered.

Kurt shook his head, wincing slightly as a deep breath led to a spasm of pain in his side. "No, no Blaine. You call him. I'm too...I'm exhausted. Can barely keep...mm...eyes 'pen. Gonna sleep," Kurt responded, his words becoming more slurred and distorted with each passing second as his eyelids slowly closed, as if too heavy to stay open on their own.

Blaine gave Kurt a wobbly smile in return, reaching down to gently kiss Kurt's warm forehead, before sitting back up and taking a shuddering breath in an attempt to calm himself down before calling Kurt's dad. He sat motionless for several seconds and simply watched Kurt sleep, his chest rising and falling in a reassuring fashion. Finally, Blaine pulled his cell phone out of of his pocket and scrolled through his list of numbers, deciding to call Kurt's home phone since it was the only number he had programmed into his phone, wincing slightly as he realized that it was nearly 11 PM and Kurt's dad would almost certainly be in bed since he opened his body shop at the ungodly hour of 6 AM each morning.

Blaine took another deep breath and hit send, listening as the phone rang once, twice, three times.

"H-h-hello?" Burt answered in a gruff, sleepy voice.

"Mr. Hummel?" Blaine answered tentatively. "Hey, it's Blaine. I'm sorry to call so late, but..." his voice trailed off as he gathered his thoughts and tried to think of how best to finish the sentence.

"Blaine? Is everything okay? Did something happen to Kurt?" Burt asked, his voice clearer now, his pitch going up slightly in concern at the late night phone call.

"Umm, Kurt's sick," Blaine paused momentarily as he heard Burt draw in a sharp breath, but stay silent, awaiting for further details. "We just got to the hospital. He wasn't feeling well earlier and then he started running a high fever and the infirmary nurse at Dalton decided he needed to go to the hospital, and they're saying that he probably has appendicitis, and might need surgery. I'm...I'm really sorry I didn't call sooner, but it all happened kind of fast."

"That's okay, Blaine." Blaine heard rustling on the other side of the phone and a hushed voice that he assumed belonged to Carol. "Blaine, hang on one second, okay?" Burt said suddenly into the phone. In the background, Blaine heard more muttering as Kurt's dad quickly explained the situation to Carol.

"Sorry, son. I'm back. Okay, so where are you two right now?" Burt asked.

"We're at Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital. It's right off Main Street, just over the river. Do you know where I'm talking about?" Blaine asked, remembering that Kurt's dad had only made a few trips to Dalton so far.

"Yeah...yes. I remember seeing it when I drove Kurt back to Dalton after Thanksgiving break. Okay, we'll we're...we're on our way now, but..." Burt let out a sigh. "Crap, it's probably going to take us at least an hour and a half to get there. Can you...are you planning to stay there for awhile?" Burt asked, more gently this time.

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'll...I can keep an eye on him until you get here," Blaine answered honestly.

"I'd...Carol and I would both really appreciate that Blaine. I'm glad you were there tonight," Burt spoke, his voice softer still with only the slightest waver indicating his concern and gratitude. Blaine heard more muffled talking and then Burt's voice was back, sounding slightly stronger this time. "How's he doing right now? Could I maybe talk to him for a second. He...he really doesn't like the hospital, ever since his mother was sick, so I just want to check in on him."

"Umm.." Blaine turned to look at Kurt who was still sleeping away obliviously. "He's asleep at the moment. The nurse just gave him some pain medication and I think it...knocked him out. "I could...I could try to wake him up if you want?" Blaine tried uncertainly, not sure if Kurt was currently up to the task.

"No...no, no need for that," Burt replied almost immediately, his voice going gruff once more. "He...I'm sure he needs to rest. Just let him know that we're on the way and that...that we love him, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Mr. Hummel. I'll let him know." Blaine heard more shuffling in the background and the start of a car starting and then suddenly, Burt was back.

"Blaine? We're just pulling out of the driveway now. I'm going to put Carol on the phone for a sec, okay?"

Before Blaine could respond, Carol's calm voice came over the phone. "Blaine? Hey honey, thank you so much for everything you've done for Kurt so far. Are you hanging in there okay?" she asked gently, sounding so maternal, it almost made Blaine cry in relief. He wasn't alone anymore. He had help. Kurt was no longer in pain and was going to be okay. At least that is what Blaine wanted to believe with all his being.

"I'm...yeah, I'm doing okay, I guess. Just wish there was more I could do to help Kurt," Blaine answered honestly.

"Of course," Carol answered sympathetically. "Listen, do you think there is a doctor or someone I could talk to get an update on Kurt? Burt is getting a little worked up and I think it would help if he could get the details.

"Umm...the nurse just stepped out. She said something about Kurt needing a scan to make sure it was appendicitis and that then they'd do a surgical consult. I could try to go find her if..."

"No, no, that's okay. It sounds like they still need to the CT Scan to confirm the diagnosis," Carol said calmly and knowledgeably, causing it to suddenly occur to Blaine that Carol was a nurse and probably understood what was going on much better than he currently did. "Listen honey, do you think you could have the doctor or nurse call us on Burt's cell phone after they get the test results back? Do you have that number?"

"Umm, no...let me just grab something to write with," Blaine answered, briefly releasing is grasp on Kurt's hand to grab a pen and a post-it note off the counter of Kurt's hospital room.

"Okay, I'm ready," Blaine responded, ready to jot down the phone number.

"Great, it's 419-862-0912. And Blaine? Please call if anything changes, okay? We should be there in under two hours. And thanks again for taking such good care of him so far. We really appreciate it. We'll see you and Kurt soon, okay?" Carol finished in a rush.

"Sure, of course. We'll see you soon. Let me know if there is anything else I can do," Blaine responded, waiting until he heard the tell-tale dial tone that signaled to him that it was time to hang up. He unceremoniously dropped his cell phone in his pocket and turned his attentions back to Kurt who was continuing to sleep, but somewhat more uneasily than he had been mere minutes before.

Blaine noticed the light sheen of sweat that had dampened Kurt's forehead and watched as his body twitched slightly. Occasionally Kurt would mumble something in his sleep and turn his head to the side. If Blaine wasn't so worried about his boyfriend, he would have said that watching Kurt sleep fitfully was adorable. Blaine slid his hand back into Kurt's and was rewarded with a slight mumble and turn on the head. Blaine unconsciously brought his free hand to Kurt's temple and brushed back the locks of hair that were plastered to Kurt's sweat-dampened skin.

He continued to watch his boyfriend in silent reverie for several minutes, feeling hypnotized by the gentle rise and fall of Kurt's chest. Blaine was startled from his private thoughts by the sound of Kurt suddenly gasping as his body jerked into the fetal position. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he let out a strangled cry as he gripped his left side tightly and tears began to pour down his cheeks unabated. Before Blaine could respond to this shock, several alarms on Kurt's monitors starting beeping in near unison, causing Blaine's heart to feel as if it dropped from his chest to the floor.

**End Chapter Note: Whoops – another evil cliffhanger. But the good news is that I won't torture for months like last time because Chapter 6 has been posted too! A few notes about this chapter. I strive for as much realism (to characterization, medical details, plot and canonical follow-through etc.) as possible so I did a decent amount of research for this chapter. For example, Westerville (where Dalton is located) and Lima, OH are two existing cities in Ohio, so I looked up local hospitals in Westerville and came up with Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital. The directions that Blaine gives are legit and I also MapQuest-ed the route from Lima to the Westerville hospital and estimated an 1 hour 45 minute drive for Kurt's dad and Carol. I made up the phone number I gave for Burt's cell (so hopefully it doesn't belong to anyone in real life), but 419 is legitimately the Lima, OH area code. I'm not sure that these little details matter to anyone but me, but yeah, I'm just a little OCD about weird things like that. The medications and treatments discussed in this chapter are real as well (based on a combo of research and personal experience). I'm not a doctor or nurse, but I have a medical-ish background (which may have something to do with my love of sick!fics and hurt/comfort. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and look forward to hearing what you think of this chapter!**

**P.S. - Due to the late hour and my desire to get two chapters posted tonight, I did a bit of a rush job on the proofreading, so feel free to let me know if you catch any typos and I'll be happy to correct. This story was been un-beta-ed so far, but if you have interested in beta-ing an upcoming chapter, send me PM. I'd love the help!**


	6. I Say A Little Prayer

**Title: There's No Place Like Home**

**Chapter: 6 – I Say A Little Prayer**

**Characters/Pairings: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Klaine Pairing**

**Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Sick!Kurt, Angst, Fluff, Romance **

**Chapter Word Count: 4,021 words**

**Rating: PG-13/Teen**

**Warnings: Kurt Whump, Discussion of Medical Procedures, Some Sexual Banter in Later Chapters, Mild Profanity**

**Spoiler Alert: This story takes place after the events of Original Song (2x16) but before Kurt returns to McKinley at the end of Born This Way (2x18). Spoilers through the end of Season 2. In my version of this story, Dalton is a boarding school and Kurt typically boards there during the week but goes home on the weekends in order to break up the long commute. New, but established Klaine relationship.**

**Summary: When Kurt misses a date with Blaine, Blaine decides to go investigating. He wasn't expecting to find his poor boyfriend slumped against the toilet in the bathroom, looking awful. Will Kurt be okay? Klaine of course, with some Sick!Kurt and Klaine fluff to come.**

**Suggested Musical Accompaniment: "Not Alone" by Darren Criss ( I prefer the version from the Market Days Festival in Chicago on August 13, 2011 – available on YouTube). Sample lyrics: **_**"Well, I've been alone, surrounded by darkness. And I've seen how heartless the world can be. Now, I've seen you cryin', you felt like it's hopeless. I'll always do my best to make you see that baby, you're not alone, 'cause you're here with me. And nothing's ever going to bring us down, 'cause nothing can keep me from loving you, and you know it's true. It don't matter what'll come to be, our love is all we need to make it through."**_

**Author's Note: As I said at the beginning of the last chapter, most of my free time in the past month has been devoted to writing my master's thesis, but I just couldn't leave the story dangling, so I decided to take a break from my research writing to come back to this story. The good news is that I'm determined to see the story through and to that end, I've outlined the rest of the story through its conclusion. There will be four more chapters after this one and I'll get the next chapter posted as soon as humanly possible (keeping in mind that my full thesis draft is due to my chair by Sunday (eek!)... Now, since I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger, let's get back to the story, shall we?**

_**Blaine was startled from his private thoughts by the sound of Kurt suddenly gasping as his body jerked into the fetal position. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he let out a strangled cry as he gripped his left side tightly and tears began to pour down his cheeks unabated. Before Blaine could respond to this shock, several alarms on Kurt's monitors starting beeping in near unison, causing Blaine's heart to feel as if it dropped from his chest to the floor. **_

"Kurt? Kurt! Jesus, what is it?" Blaine called out as Kurt continued to let out horrible sounding cries of pain. His hands were all over Kurt at once, pressing his squirming body firmly against the pillow with one hand while the other frantically pushed the nurse call button. He dropped the call button to the ground, causing it to swing tethered to the side of Kurt's bed and cupped his other hand around Kurt's cheek, stroking it gently as he tried to get Kurt to look at him.

"Kurt...baby, look at me. Breathe, Kurt. You've got to breathe. What happened? I just called the nurse, okay? Hang on...oh shit, Kurt, just hang on," Blaine babbled incoherently, his eyes watering with unshed tears at the look of fear, pain, and utter panic on Kurt's face.

"B-B-Bla-ine, oh...oh g-god, h-hurts. Make it...stop. P-please. C-can't breathe. H-hurts," Kurt managed between gasps of pain.

"Okay...shh, Kurt. I know...I know it hurts. Just try to..." Blaine's thought was interrupted by Bridget storming into the room at lightning speed, followed closely by Doctor Baron.

"What happened?" asked Bridget as she walked over to Kurt's monitor, frowning at the read out before pressing several buttons, causing the alarms to blessedly stop going off, leaving behind only a slight ringing sound in Blaine's ears.

"I..I..really don't know. He was asleep and just jerked up all of the sudden and started screaming and saying it hurt and he couldn't breathe. Please...oh god, please just help him," Blaine shot off in a rush.

Bridget nodded grimly at Blaine before turning to the doctor. "His BP's bottoming out at 75/50 and O2 sats are down to 88% on 3 liters O2 by nasal cannula. Radiology is backed up so they haven't gotten his CT scan yet. What do you want me to do?"

Doctor Baron nodded to himself, seemingly thinking through his options silently before reaching down to palpitate his patient's abdomen again, more gently this time since he could see the enormous amount of pain his patient was currently in.

Kurt cried out loudly as soon as the doctor's hands touched him and continued to crush Blaine's hand and cry throughout the exam. Blaine had never felt more helpless in his life as he continued to squeeze Kurt's hand and stroke his hair, murmuring soft, but ultimately meaningless reassurances under his breath throughout the ordeal.

"Bridget, it looks like there is more guarding in his abdomen and it feels rigid. He needs surgery now. Can you grab the portable ultrasound so I can take a look? I'm wondering if he's developing peritonitis. And ask the charge nurse to page surgery stat, please. Thanks."

Bridget was back within seconds and they quickly hooked up the ultrasound, confirming that Kurt's abdomen was starting to fill with fluid as a result of his appendix rupturing. After that, things started to happen rather quickly. People were paged, more blood was drawn, medications were hung and injected. Through it all, Blaine's eyes never left Kurt as he continued to do what he could to calm and reassure him.

Blaine was relieved to find after about five minutes one of the many injections Kurt had been given started to kick in, helping Kurt to stop crying and relax his death grip on Blaine's hand slightly. Blaine watched over Kurt protectively as his cries finally subsided leaving Kurt weak, shaky, and sweaty.

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine called tentatively, while simultaneously lacing Kurt's fingers through his. "How are you doing? Is the pain any better?"

Kurt nodded solemnly, his eyes half-closed and his face still tense. "Blaine? Did you...my dad...did you talk to him?" Kurt asked worriedly. "I want...I need him here," he finished, his voice wobbly.

"Yeah honey, he's on his way. He should be here in about an hour, okay? He said to tell you he loves you and that he'll be here as soon as he can. He wanted to talk to you earlier but you were sleeping. Do you want to call and talk to him?" Blaine asked gently.

Before Kurt could respond, Bridget re-entered the room with a clipboard carrying several forms. "Kurt, how old are you? Are you under 18? We need someone to sign for you before we start the surgery and they want to get you up there in the next 20 minutes or so."

The poor timing wasn't lost on Blaine who immediately spoke up. "His dad is on the way, but he's driving in from Lima. I don't think he'll be here for another hour or so. Kurt's 16. Could I maybe sign it for now?"

Bridget let out a sigh. "I guess so. Let's get both of you to sign it now, because we can't wait that long to start the surgery. Here, sign on the three X's, please," Bridget directed, handing the form first to Blaine and then to Kurt for their signatures. "Could you give me a phone number to call his parents? I'd at least like to get verbal consent."

"Of course," Blaine replied, handing over the scrap of paper with Burt's cell number on it, having long since memorized the number while waiting for Kurt to wake up. "They were hoping for an update anyway."

"Great," said Bridget. "I'm going to call them and get the last of your test results together, Kurt, so that we can move you up to the OR for surgery, okay? I'll see you both in about 15 minutes."

Blaine nodded, looking down at Kurt as the nurse exited the room. He was not surprised to see that Kurt was crying silently, his shoulders shaking slightly from the force of his sobs.

"Kurt...," Blaine started tentatively.

"He's not going to get here in time, Blaine. I want...I need my dad. I'm...I'm really scared," Kurt whimpered quietly, avoiding eye contact with Blaine out of embarrassment.

"Oh Kurt..." Blaine sighed. "I know you are, sweetheart. I'm scared too. But I'll be here the whole time okay? And your dad and Carol will be here before you wake up from surgery, I promise. Look, why don't we call him so that you can at least talk to him. Sound okay?" Blaine asked gently while simultaneously sliding his free hand under Kurt's chin and tilting it up until Kurt was looking directly into Blaine's eyes.

Blaine watched in amazement as Kurt slowly drew in a shuddering breath and pulled himself together in preparation for talking to his father. It was so like Kurt to want to protect everyone else from feeling worry or fear even when he was sick and in pain and terrified of what was to come. Blaine waited while Kurt slowly got his tears under control and attempted to normalize his breathing as much as was possible given his current state.

After a moment, Kurt spoke up. "Okay Blaine, you can call him. Will you...can you just tell him what's going on before you give him the phone. I-I don't know if I c-can handle all of it on my own." Blaine nodded and began to dial Burt Hummel's number from memory, his stomach knotting in anticipation of having to explain what was happening to Kurt to his dad.

Burt answered on the second ring. "Hello?" he said loudly, almost eagerly. "Blaine? Is that you?"

"Hey...yeah Mr. Hummel, it's me. Look, the nurse is supposed to call you in a few minutes with an update on Kurt, but basically, he's started getting worse, and they want to bring him up for emergency surgery in about 15 minutes. He's awake now and...he's a little...he just wants to talk to you before...the surgery since we didn't think you'd be able to make it here before they started."

Burt let out a string on muttered curse words in response to Blaine's update. Emergency surgery. That wasn't good. And even worse, he hated the thought of his only son undergoing surgery while he was driving along a deserted stretch of highway. He wanted to be there now for Kurt.

"Jesus...okay. I don't really like the sound of that. We're still about 40 miles out too. I guess just let me talk to him?" Burt said frustratedly.

"Okay, let me get him," Blaine said. "Kurt? Hey, your dad's on the phone, honey. Here. Want me to hold it for you?" he asked, sensing Kurt's unwillingness to stop clutching his right side or let go of Blaine's hand. He brought the iPhone to Kurt's ear.

"H-hello?" Kurt started haltingly.

"Kurt? Hey kid, how are you feeling? Blaine said you've had a pretty rough night so far. You hanging in there?" Burt asked gently.

"Dad?" Kurt croaked, the tears flowing again almost immediately. "Dad, it hurts really bad and you know how much I...h-hate the hospital...since mom. I-I don't wanna have surgery."

Burt sighed, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat at hearing Kurt sound so weak and vulnerable. "I know, kid. I know. It sucks. I-I wish I could be there right now, but Carol and I are on our way and should be there in about 45 minutes, okay? It sounds like you need the surgery now so that you can start feeling better. Look Kurt, you've got Blaine and he's not going to leave you, okay buddy? And I promise that I'll be there when you wake up, alright? You're gonna be just fine."

Kurt sniffed loudly. "I-I know, Dad. I'm...just scared. What if..."

"Hey, hey Kurt. Don't even think like that. You are in good hands, okay? You're going to be just fine, buddy. People get appendicitis all the time. I just want you to try to relax and let Blaine distract you, okay? Look Kurt, I think the nurse in beeping in on the other line, so I need to go, but I love you and I'll see you soon, okay. Everything's going to be just fine, Kurt. I'll be there when you wake up, I promise."

"Okay..." Kurt managed, now sobbing in earnest. "I- I love you too, Dad. I'll see you soon." He closed his eyes momentarily, allowing the tears to flow before looking up at Blaine. "You c-can hang up now. The...nurse beeped in...so he had to go."

Blaine wordlessly removed the phone from Kurt's ear and hung it up, sliding it into his pocket. He leaned towards Kurt, dropping his forehead to Kurt's as he gently wiped the tears from his cheeks with his thumb. He allowed Kurt to cry silently for several more minutes while he continued to wipe away his tears, trying to soothe Kurt in any way that he could.

"Shh, Kurt. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. You'll see your dad and Carol soon. I'm right here, honey. I'm not going to leave you," Blaine continued to reassure.

Blaine was interrupted by a knock on the door. Bridget filed into the room tailed by two young looking doctors or nurses decked out in full surgical scrubs gear. Kurt's grip tightened around Blaine's as he watched the new people enter the room, clearly fearful of the surgery to come.

"Hi guys, this is Doctor Jameson, the anesthesiologist, and Rebecca, your surgical nurse. Kurt, they've just got a few questions for you and then they are going to take you up for your surgery, okay? Blaine, they've agreed that you can accompany Kurt up to the OR floor and one of the nurses will show you to the surgery waiting room. I just spoke with Kurt's dad and told him to meet you up there in the waiting room. Any questions before I let them surgery team take over?" Bridget asked patiently.

Blaine looked to Kurt who shook his head. "No, I don't think so, Bridget. Thanks so much for helping arrange all of this. We really appreciate it."

"Of course," said Bridget, smiling personably. She gently smoothed out Kurt's blanket and gently patted him on the shoulder before stepping out of the room.

"Okay, hi Kurt," said Doctor Jameson. "Like Bridget was saying, I'm going to be taking care of you in the operating room tonight. You can call me Doctor Molly. I've gotten most of the information I need from your chart, but just to confirm with you, you are allergic to Amoxicillin, right? Any other drug or food allergies?"

Kurt shook his head. "Nope, just the Amoxil."

"Okay great," said the anesthesiologist, jotting something down on a clipboard as she spoke. "What about any previous surgeries? Any problems with anesthesia that either you or someone in your family has had in the past?"

Again, Kurt shook his head. "No, I've never had any surgeries. My mom...umm, she...d-died of cancer about ten years ago and my dad had to have heart bypass surgery about six months ago, but I don't...think he had any problems with it,."

"Okay, what about any chronic health problems? Diabetes? High blood pressure? Acid reflux?" the doctor continued.

"Umm...just like...seasonal allergies. And sometimes I...get migraines. Nothing else." Kurt answered tiredly, the stress and anxiety of the day weighing on him more and more with each passing moment. Blaine noticed his fatigue and discretely gave his hand a squeeze, exchanging a quick look of encouragement as he did so.

"Got it. Those are the last of my questions. Now I just need to go over what's going to happen next really quickly, okay? In just a minute, I'm going to inject some medicine into your IV to make you feel sleepy and relaxed. Then we'll take you upstairs. Once we get to the OR, you'll get to say goodbye to your friend and then I'll bring you back and move you onto the surgical table. Once we get you situated, I'll give you some more medicine through your IV to put you entirely to sleep. While you're out, we'll be breathing for you through a tube in your throat, and I'll be monitoring you closely throughout the surgery to make sure you are doing well. The surgeon will make a small incision on your right side and will remove your appendix and drain any fluid that's built up around your appendix. The operation should only take about 1-2 hours if all goes well and then we'll bring you back to the recovery room and start waking you up from surgery. Once we get you settled into the recovery room, we'll let one friend or family member sit with you until you have woken up and are ready to go up to your hospital room. Okay? Any questions?"

Blaine felt his stomach twist and flip as the doctor droned on and on about all of the tortures that were to come for Kurt. The thought of Kurt unconscious with a tube down his throat was enough to make Blaine feel slightly sick. He could tell that the doctor was aiming for reassuring, but Blaine couldn't help the rising panic he felt at the thought of having to leave Kurt on his own in mere minutes.

Kurt weakly spoke up, however, jolting Blaine out of his increasingly grim and morbid thoughts. "Yeah, will it...will the s-surgery make the pain go away or is it g-going to be worse?" he asked shakily.

The surgical nurse spoke up first this time. "The surgery should help to relieve the pressure in your stomach from the build up of fluid which will help with the pain over time. But you will probably have some post-operative pain from the incision. As soon as you start to wake up after surgery, a nurse will ask you to rate your pain and administer pain medications to make you comfortable. Once we get you up to your room, we'll probably hook you up to something called a PCA pump which will let you self-administer pain medications by pushing a button. We work really hard to help you get your pain under control because it is an important part of helping patients recuperate after surgery."

Kurt nodded. "Okay, thanks."

"Alright, Kurt," spoke Doctor Molly again. "I'm going to go ahead and give you that medication I was telling you about a few minutes ago. You should start to feel sleepy and relaxed in a minute or two." The doctor quickly removed a capped syringe from her scrub pocket and opened it and smoothly injected the contents into Kurt's IV port. "Right, okay, let's head upstairs. Blaine, if you want to grab that bag with the rest of Kurt's personal belongings, you can follow us upstairs."

Blaine stooped down to grab the large plastic bag containing Kurt's clothing and shoes and slung it over his shoulder before resuming his position next to Kurt's left side, sliding his hand back into Kurt's as the doctor and nurse grabbed the bed rails and began to slowly propel Kurt's bed out of the room and down the hall to the waiting elevator.

As the elevator doors slid closed, Blaine looked down at Kurt, noticing that he had a loopy grin on his face and was splaying the fingers of his right hand in front of his eyes quite comically. "Umm, Kurt? Whatcha doing?"

"Bl-aaaine..." Kurt slurred exaggeratedly. "My fingers look funny. Like sausages. They're dancin' like the Cheerios. Did I 'ver tell yooouuthat I was a cheerleader? I was awe-some t-too. So h-hot. Boom like dynamite."

Blaine tried and failed to suppress a snort of laughter, glancing up at the doctor to see that she too was finding Kurt's sudden chattiness amusing. "Sorry," she chuckled. "That medicine tends to make patients a little loopy. Sort of like being drunk. You wouldn't _believe_ some of the things I hear from patients."

"Druuunk?" Kurt called out loudly. "Bl-aaaaine? Who's druunk? Are you? You gonna kiss Rachel Berry again...like l-last time? That wasn't funny. I was sooo mad at you. But you are sooo gay. Just like ya told me. 100% gay, right? Just like me. That's awe-some. That you and me are both gay."

Blaine's cheeks flushed a bright shade of crimson as he looked down at the floor. "Okay Kurt, I think that's enough sharing for tonight. How about you close your eyes for a few minutes, 'kay?" Blaine's ears burned as he could feel the curious gaze of the nurse on him while the doctor appeared to be studiously reviewing Kurt's chart in an attempt to give Kurt and Blaine a little privacy.

"Nope...don't wanna sleep. I want to talk to you. So cute. Bl-aaine, you are soooo cute. I wish I could be as cute as you. But this gown tooo-tally clashes with my skin tone. Yuck!" Kurt continued to babble obliviously.

Blaine could feel his cheeks flaming and did the only thing that came to mind to shut Kurt up. He quietly bent down to Kurt and kissed him gently, full on the mouth, figuring that there was nothing he could do to embarrass himself further at the moment. As he pulled away, he saw Kurt's eyes were wide and his mouth had opened in shock. For once, he'd manage to render Kurt momentarily speechless. He decided to take advantage of Kurt's speechlessness by telling him the one thing he'd been thinking all night, ever since he first found Kurt lying on his bathroom floor in his dorm room.

"Hey Kurt? Honey, I want you to know that I love you." Blaine said tenderly, his eyes tearing slightly as he thought for the millionth time how lucky he was to have Kurt in his life.

Kurt's eyes went wider still as he took in what Blaine had said. "You do? Oh Blaine, me too. I looove you this much," he exclaimed happily, removing his right hand from his side and stretching it out to indicate a great distance. Kurt winced visibly as his exaggerated movements jarred his right side. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" he breathed, dropping his hand back to his right side. "That hurts. Oh man, that really hurt," he continued, pouting exaggeratedly. "Bl-aaine...kiss it better."

Blaine decided to take the path of least resistance and ducked to plant a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead, jolting slightly in shock as his lips made contact with Kurt's temple as a result of the heat pouring off of Kurt's face. It certainly appeared that his fever was spiking again, which was undoubtedly worsening Kurt's current loopy mental state. "There you go, Kurt. All better."

The elevator door dinged as they reached the third floor and the doors slid open. And just like that, all of the lightness from the elevator dissipated, and Blaine's stomach began to churn at the thought of leaving Kurt. Kurt must have also sensed the change in mood as he suddenly gripped Blaine's hand tightly, his face dropping into a serious expression. "Bl-aaaine, I don't want you to leave me. Dr. Molly, can't he stay a 'lil longer? Pleeease?"

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but only doctors can go past those double doors there. Look, we're going to step over here and give you a minute to say goodbye to your...boyfriend, okay? Blaine's going to wait in that room right there next to the operating room, see?" she asked, pointing to a small, deserted waiting room nearby that contained a coffee maker, flat screen TV, and piles of magazines. She gestured to the nurse, and within seconds, they had stepped around the corner and out of view, giving Blaine a few precious moments of privacy with Kurt.

"Blaine," Kurt cried plaintively. "I don't want you to go. Please. I'm...still s-scared. Can't you s-sneak into the other place like a ninja?"

Blaine stifled a laugh at the ninja comparison. "I wish I could, Kurt, but I'd get in trouble." His eyes narrowed as the conversation became more serious. "Listen honey, I promise that I'll be here when you wake up though. Your dad will be here too. I...I love you Kurt. So much. I just need you to be strong for me a little longer, okay? Everything's going to be fine when you wake up."

""Kay Blaine," Kurt agreed sleepily as his eyelids started to droop. "I..I love you too, Blaine. You are..the best boyfriend. Ever. Make sure that...my dad doesn't freak, 'kay?" Kurt failed to hold back a deep yawn. "And Blaine? When I wake up, I wanna...can you be holding my hand? That way I know you're there, deal?"

"Of course, honey." Blaine bent down to press another gentle kiss to Kurt's temple, trying hard not to let his emotions overwhelm him lest he burst into tears in front of Kurt. "Just close your eyes, okay? I'll be right here when you wake up."

Kurt allowed his eyes to sink closed at last, and Blaine gave his beautiful boyfriend a lingering look before signaling to Dr. Molly that they were ready. With one last squeeze of Kurt's hand, he allowed the nurse to separate the two of them and to slowly push Kurt's gurney through the double doors and out of sight. Blaine stood there for several minutes after Kurt disappeared, fighting to gain control of his emotions as he prepared himself for the hardest part that was still to come. The waiting.

**End Chapter Note: I'm not going very easy on poor Kurt so far, which made it seem oddly appropriate to add a little comic relief at the end. (For the record, I've been given the medicine that Kurt takes here (Versed) and trust me when I say that is definitely makes you feel more than a little tipsy. So far I haven't said anything quite as weird as Kurt while being prepped for surgery, but I sure have had some weird thoughts.) So this concludes my two day writing marathon of 8,853 words for this story alone. Only four chapters left to go on this story and I plan to get the next chapter posted as soon as possible, but it will likely be sometime next week before that happens since I've got to finish up my thesis manuscript in the next few days. As I mentioned previously, I also write Darren Criss/ Chris Colfer RPF (real-people fiction) which may be of interest to people who like this story and want to see more stories about the actors behind the characters. If you are interested in reading any of my RPFs or any of my other published works, you can find my masterpost with links to all my stories on LiveJournal by googling my user name "sarahannmac" since this site won't let me post a direct link. Hope you've enjoyed reading. I'd love to hear any feedback you have about this story as a whole or the last two chapters in particular. Until next week, wish me luck on wrapping up the thesis document! **

**P.S. - Due to the late hour and my desire to get two chapters posted tonight, I did a bit of a rush job on the proofreading, so feel free to let me know if you catch any typos and I'll be happy to correct. This story was been un-beta-ed so far, but if you have interested in beta-ing an upcoming chapter, send me PM. I'd love the help!  
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	7. Endless Love

**Author's Note: Hello again! Thanks for sticking with this story through my grad school necessitated hiatus. The thesis is turned in which means I can write fun stuff again to my heart's content. So, time for the next chapter... For those of you following my other Klaine or CrissColfer RPFs, I should be updating "Our Time is Short" next followed by either "It Can't Happen Here" or "If You Fall, I Will Catch You" hopefully all by the end of the week. So, be looking out for updates on those. If you haven't already signed up for alerts, you should so you'll know as soon as I post them because my posting schedule can be...erratic, to say the least. But now that grad school is done kicking my ass for awhile, that should get a lot better. Okay, let's get back to Kurt and Blaine, shall we?**

"_**I..I love you too, Blaine. You are..the best boyfriend. Ever. Make sure that...my dad doesn't freak, 'kay?" Kurt failed to hold back a deep yawn. "And Blaine? When I wake up, I wanna...can you be holding my hand? That way I know you're there, deal?"**_

"_**Of course, honey." Blaine bent down to press another gentle kiss to Kurt's temple, trying hard not to let his emotions overwhelm him lest he burst into tears in front of Kurt. "Just close your eyes, okay? I'll be right here when you wake up."**_

_**Kurt allowed his eyes to sink closed at last, and Blaine gave his beautiful boyfriend a lingering look before signaling to Dr. Molly that they were ready. With one last squeeze of Kurt's hand, he allowed the nurse to separate the two of them and to slowly push Kurt's gurney through the double doors and out of sight. Blaine stood there for several minutes after Kurt disappeared, fighting to gain control of his emotions as he prepared himself for the hardest part that was still to come. The waiting. **_

Blaine checked his watch for at least the fifth time in the past half hour, sighing deeply as he confirmed it was just after 3 am. Kurt had been brought into surgery around 11:30 pm and the surgeon had said the surgery would only take an hour or two. Blaine's stomach twisted in fear when he realized Kurt had been in surgery for double the amount of time the surgeon had predicted. He wanted to believe that the surgeon was just taking his time and being careful and thorough, but his mind was going to increasingly dark places, imagining all kinds of horrible complications. He watched Burt pace back and forth across the surgical waiting room, every bit as worked up as Blaine about Kurt's condition.

Blaine looked up suddenly when he felt a hand on top of his. He turned in shock to see Carole give him a comforting smile. She gently took the shredded remains of an empty styrofoam cup that Blaine had been mindlessly tearing apart and patted him on the knee.

"Kurt's going to be fine, Blaine," she said softly. "No news is good news at this point, trust me."

Blaine nodded his head, desperately wanting what Carole was saying to be true. But he couldn't stop the creeping doubts. He blew out a shaky breath, trying hard to fight back the prickling of tears in his eyes as he remembered just how scared Kurt had been when he'd been forced to leave him hours earlier.

"What's taking so damn long?" Burt suddenly asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know, honey," Carole answered honestly. "There are lots of reasons a surgery could run long. Do you want me to see if I can find a nurse to update us?"

"Yes," spoke Blaine and Burt in near perfect union.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Carole answered. And just like that, she was gone, leaving Burt and Blaine alone for the first time since Burt had arrived at the hospital hours earlier.

Burt let out a sigh of frustration as he watched Carole disappear down the hall and resumed pacing the room, his hands balled up into fists that didn't quite hide the tremors. As Burt paced back and forth, back and forth, he was transported back nearly ten years to a night much like tonight.

_**FLASHBACK – MAY 29th, 2002 – LIMA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL**_

Burt paced back and forth along the yellowed tile floors of the family waiting room. It was nearly midnight and he hadn't been updated on his wife's condition since 6 pm that evening. His son was sprawled across the vinyl couch, covered with Burt's coat and using a stuffed penguin as a pillow. His face was open and innocent in sleep, but looking closer, it was easy to see the slight puffiness of his eyes and streaks across his cheeks from his earlier tears.

Lizzie was still in surgery. And not just any surgery, but her third surgery for ovarian cancer in the past two years. More importantly, this was the surgery that would tell them if her cancer had spread, if this surgery would mark the end of her second battle with cancer or the beginning. Elizabeth had been strong and stoic as always, smiling and laughing up until the minute that the nurses wheeled her away. She'd reminded Burt to eat something and not to overdo it on the coffee. She'd kissed Kurt on the forehead and assured him that she would be there to read him his favorite story tomorrow night. But Burt could see Lizzie biting the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling and he knew deep down that there was no way that she wasn't every bit as terrified as he was. But his Elizabeth, his beautiful, strong, and brave wife, would of course put on a brave face for her family. Burt's heart had ached for her in that moment, and he wanted nothing more than to shout, "Stop...this is all a big mistake. Not my family. Not again. Take me if you must, but please God, don't put her through this...don't put _us_ through this again." But instead Burt had struggled to hold himself together for his wife and his son, and he'd put on a cheery face as he assured Lizzie that he would make sure that he and Kurt ate a decent dinner and that they'd see her soon. His last words to her had been, "I love you," and really, what more could he say than that?

But that had been hours earlier. The oncologist had estimated that the surgery could take 3 or 4 hours at the most, but it had been nearly 9 hours since Burt had last seen his wife. When the nurse updated him around 6 pm, she'd been vague and simply said that it had taken longer than expected to expose the tumor. She assured him that the oncologist was simply being careful and taking his time, wanting to save as much of the healthy tissue as possible. But Burt had his doubts as the look on her face told him that there was something that she wasn't telling him. Something that she couldn't tell him, perhaps?

When they met with the surgeon days earlier, Elizabeth had adamantly refused to have a full hysterectomy. Burt knew that being an only child herself, Elizabeth desperately wanted to give Kurt a younger brother or sister. Burt had always dreamed of having a big family as well, but not at the expense of his wife's health. This discussion had turned into a rare fight between them, with both of seeming unwilling to cede any ground. Things had gotten heated until a sleepy Kurt wandered into their bedroom clutching a blanket and complaining of a nightmare. Burt had softened almost immediately and allowed Kurt the rare treat of climbing into bed with them. Kurt snuggled up next to his mother and was out like a light in no time. Burt leaned over, kissed his wife goodnight, and assured her that he would be there to support her, no matter what her decision. And as he lay silently in the dark with his arms around his family, he began to pray for the first time in many, many years. Burt hadn't stopped praying since then. Praying for his wife. For his son. For his family.

Burt was suddenly startled by a sound behind him. He turned to see Kurt's body flailing on the couch, his hands closed into fists and his eyes still tightly closed. Kurt was having a nightmare. He'd been having a lot of those since Lizzie had been diagnosed with cancer. Burt knelt down next to the couch and began rubbing soothing circles across Kurt's back. Kurt let out a whimper that sounded an awful lot like "mommy" and shook his head back and forth.

"Shh, it's okay, buddy. Go back to the sleep. It's just a bad dream. I'm here, Kurt. You're okay." Burt whispered soothingly as he continued to rub his son's back.

Kurt's body stilled and his eyes opened slowly, blinking against the harsh flourescent lights. "Daddy?" he called, unsure where he was for a moment.

"Hey bud, I'm right here. Go back to sleep, okay? It's late," Burt spoke, hoping that Kurt would fall back asleep before he could remember why they were at the hospital and get worked up all over again.

"Where's mommy? She's supposed to read me my story," Kurt whimpered, feeling lost as he remembered where he was.

"She's still...the doctor's are still helping her, buddy. Just go to sleep and when you wake up, you can see her, okay?"

Kurt's lower lip began to tremble. It was cold in the hospital and he didn't have his "Finding Nemo" nightlight. And his mom always read to him before bed. She would make funny voices for all the characters and let Kurt turn the pages and look at the pictures for as long as he wanted. And while his dad would always say "Only one chapter, Kurt," he could usually talk his mom into reading him two chapters.

Kurt wasn't stupid. He knew his mom was sick again. Only sick people had to come to the hospital. But he didn't want her to be sick. He'd hated seeing her in the hospital with tubes everywhere and he'd been so sad when he watched her cry after all her pretty hair feel out. It wasn't fair. Couldn't someone else's mom be sick instead?

Tears started falling from Kurt's eyes again, silently this time. He reached for his dad, burying his face in his shoulder as he said, "I miss mommy. I don't want her to be sick again."

Burt had held his son tight, rubbing his back and letting him cry for a few minutes. "I know, Kurt. I know. I don't want her to be sick either." He slowly rose to his feet, gathering Kurt with him and settling them both on the couch, letting Kurt rest his head in his lap. "Just try to sleep, Kurt. When you wake up, it'll be morning and you'll be able to see mom, okay?" Kurt sniffled and nodded into his dad's lap and together they waited.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Without thinking, Burt sunk onto the couch next to Blaine, trying hard to keep himself upright after the day and night he'd had. He made a conscious decision to keep his mind on the here and now. Just because Lizzie had... Just because things had gone so badly the last time he was here, that didn't mean that something bad was going to happen to Kurt as well. Kurt was having his appendix removed. That was nothing like having major surgery for a cancer relapse. And while the logical part of Burt knew this was true, it wasn't enough to stop him from worrying.

Blaine watched Kurt's dad out of the corner of his eye. He'd promised Kurt that he'd keep an eye on him, that he'd make sure he didn't get too worked up lest it affect his heart condition. He could see that Burt's hands were shaking almost as badly as Blaine's were at the moment. What Burt needed, what they both needed, was a distraction. Blaine's eyes scanned the room, looking for some inocuous conversation starter, but he came up empty. It was impossible to think of anything but _Kurt_ at the moment.

Luckily, Blaine was saved from making awkward small talk with his boyfriend's dad, as Carole came bustling through the door with a nurse following close behind. Blaine and Burt were both on their feet in seconds, looking expectantly to the nurse for the news they'd been waiting for all night.

"Well?" Burt said impatiently, looking to the nurse. Carole walked to Burt and put her arm around him, attempting to simultaneously reassure and restrain Burt from jumping down the young nurse's throat.

"Hi," said the young nurse nervously. "Umm, Kurt's out of surgery. I'm one of the recovery room nurses. The surgeon said he was heading this way to talk to you about the surgery and how everything went."

Blaine and Burt both let out a breath in relief. "Great," said Burt. "So everything's okay? He's doing alright?"

"Umm yes," the nurse said, rocking back and forth slightly on her heels as she spoke. "But he's...umm, he's just waking up and keeps asking for someone named Blaine? I wasn't sure if..." she trailed off, unsure.

Blaine bit his lip and looked to Burt as Burt looked steadily back at him. "Well, go on then..." Burt said gruffly, looking at Blaine with an unreadable expression on his face.

Blaine looked back at him, unsure. "Are you sure you don't want to..." he started hesitantly.

Carole was the first to respond. "Blaine honey, Burt and I need to wait here so that we can talk to the doctor. Why don't you go back there and keep him company and we'll be there in just a few minutes, okay?"

Blaine shook his head mutely, still not able to come up with the right words. Kurt was awake. Kurt had asked for him. And in that moment, all that Blaine wanted was to see with his own eyes that Kurt was okay.

Without a word, the nurse led him down a series of corridors, past a large door marked "staff only – no admittance." The door opened up into a large room centered around a nurse's station. Each bed was partitioned off by a curtain, some open and some closed. The nurse led him to the second to last bed on the right and pulled back a curtain to expose Kurt.

Blaine's heart stuttered as he took in Kurt's appearance. He was pale against the hospital gown and white sheets. His eyes were closed, but his face was tensed with pain. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth. But worst of all, Kurt was struggling. His free hand fisted the blanket covering him and his body shook slightly as he tried in vain to get up. His voice was scratchy and barely above a whisper, but as Blaine got closer, he finally made out what Kurt was saying. _Blaine._Shit.

Blaine was by Kurt's side in an instant, his hand automatically covering Kurt's free hand as he stroked Kurt's hair with the other. Kurt shuddered slightly as Blaine made contact with him, but did not open his eyes. "Kurt?" Blaine called out tenatively. "Hey Kurt, I'm here. It's okay. Just take it easy, alright?"

"Blaine?" Kurt whimpered. His hand instinctively tightened around Blaine's as if he was scared Blaine might leave him.

"Yeah, honey. I'm here. You're okay. Just lay still, Kurt. You just had surgery, remember?" Blaine spoke gently as he continued to trace soothing patterns across the back of Kurt's hand.

Kurt's face tightened in recognition. He squeezed Blaine's hand tighter as he remembered where he was. "Blaine?" he called again, slightly louder this time.

"Yeah Kurt?"

"Blaine...it...it still hurts. They said it would stop. Why won't it stop?" Kurt sniffed.

Blaine scooted closer to the bed, wanting to reassure Kurt physically as much as he could. He brought Kurt's right hand to his lips and kissed it gently while his other hand trailed through his soft hair before coming to rest gently against his temple. Kurt's brow felt much cooler than it had hours earlier, but it was still a touch too warm and clammy from a combination of pain and anxiety.

Blaine stomach tightened at the pain in Kurt's voice. He hated this feeling of helplessness. All that Blaine wanted was for Kurt to be okay, and he was powerless to do anything but provide the most basic of comforts. At times like these, Blaine couldn't help but feel like it wasn't enough, that _he_ wasn't enough for Kurt. But as he watched Kurt cling to his hand as if it was the life raft of a drowning man, he knew he had to try to be the boyfriend Kurt needed at the moment.

Blaine started by turning to a nurse who was jotting down numbers in a thick chart near the foot of Kurt's bed. He looked to her pleadingly. "He...he's in a lot of pain. Can't you...give him something?"

"Sure, let me check. I'll be right back. Just...try to keep him still if you can. He's been moving around a lot and that's not helping with the pain." The nurse gave Blaine a sympathetic smile before disappearing, leaving Blaine and Kurt alone momentarily.

Blaine turned back to Kurt, slightly relieved that there was something that he could do to help. "Hey Kurt, the nurse is going to get you some more pain medicine, okay? Just hang on for a few minutes."

Tears began to seep from Kurt's eyes from a mixture of pain and frustration. He was so tired and it hurt so damn much, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't give in to the fatigue and sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, the gnawing pain in his side brought him back to the surface, keeping him floating somewhere between asleep and awake. He just wanted to escape, to curl up somewhere safe and warm and sleep until this ordeal was over.

But the pain and darkness kept him disoriented, so Kurt searched for anything safe and home that he could cling to. From the moment he first became aware, there was only one thing he truly needed. _Blaine._Kurt was scared and in pain and miserable, and for whatever reason, he knew that only Blaine could make him feel better, make him feel safe again. So Kurt had continued to struggle until the one person he truly needed was by his side. And now he clung to Blaine, scared that if he blinked or sucumbed to the blackness for a second, he would be alone again.

Blaine bit his lip as he watched tears seep from Kurt's still closed eyes. He quickly brought his hand to Kurt's cheek to wipe away the tears. "Kurt...sweetheart, don't cry... Shh, it's okay. Kurt, please..." Blaine pleaded.

"I...B-Bl-Blaine, it _hurts,_" Kurt managed between sobs.

Blaine sighed heavily. "I know, Kurt. I know. The nurse will be back any second now, okay? It's going to get better. Just...just squeeze my hand, Kurt. I'm right here."

Kurt shuddered and then slowly pried open his eyes, looking at Blaine for the first time since he'd been brought out of surgery. He blinked against the bright overhead lights and tears in his eyes, taking in Blaine's worried face hovering above him. Blaine looked so tired. "Hi," Kurt whispered tentatively.

Blaine gave Kurt a sad smile in spite of himself. "Hi honey," he said in response.

Kurt looked around the small space, wincing as his body shifted slightly with the turn on his head, before looking back to Blaine in confusion. "Is my dad here?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, he and Carole are talking to the doctors right now. Do you want me to go get him?" Blaine asked, still unsure.

Kurt's reaction was immediate. He tightened his grip on Blaine's hand and shook his head vehemently. "No, don't leave. I...I need you. Just stay, please," Kurt all but pleaded.

"Okay, okay...I'm not going anywhere, Kurt. I'm right here," Blaine soothed, squeezing his hand reassuringly as he spoke. Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine saw the nurse gesturing to him and turned to see her hold up a hand. "One second," she mouthed. He nodded in response and turned back to Kurt, feeling light with relief.

"Hey, the nurse just said she'd be back in one second, okay? You're doing great, Kurt," Blaine reassured, brushing his hand through Kurt's hair as he spoke. He watched as Kurt nodded, biting his lip and wincing, but staying silent despite his obvious pain. "Anything I can do?" Blaine asked tentatively.

Kurt shook his head and squeezed Blaine's hand tighter as his eyes slid close again. "Just don't let go of my hand, okay? I...I need you here."

"Deal," Blaine said, planting a kiss on Kurt's forehead and settling back into the chair to wait.

He smiled as the nurse returned carrying a syringe filled with a clear fluid. "Sorry, that took so long," she chirped, looking to Kurt's monitors and ensuring that his vital signs were stable before injecting the contents of the syringe into Kurt's waiting IV port. "This should help with the pain. Kurt, you should try to rest if you can. Hopefully, we'll move you up to your room in about an hour. Just try to take it easy for now, okay?"

Kurt nodded, his eyes alread half-lidded from a mixture of pain and fatigue.

The nurse nodded, satisfied with the output on the monitors. She turned to Blaine before leaving. "Let me know if he needs anything else or if the medicine starts to make him nauseous."

Blaine smiled gratefully. "I will. Thanks for your help." He turned back to Kurt and was relieved to see that some of the tension had already left his face. "Feeling better, Kurt?" he asked.

"Mmhm, yup. Muu-cch better," Kurt slurred, a slightly dopey grin on his face as he looked up at Blaine.

Blaine stiffled a laugh at the sudden contrast in Kurt's demeanor. "Good," he responded. "You should try to get some sleep, okay?" He smiled down at Kurt, suddenly remembering the many ridiculous things that Kurt had said while under the influence of Morphine earlier. He would have to jot some of them down to tease Kurt with when he was recovered.

He looked back down to Kurt and watched as he struggled mightily to keep his eyes open despite his fatigue. It was taking near Herculean effort for Kurt to simply hold his eyelids open and the effect was comical. "Kurt? What are you doing? Just close your eyes, okay?" Blaine directed.

"No...don' wanna," Kurt slurred petuantly. "You'll leave. Don't want...yooou to go, Blaaaaine," Kurt whined.

Blaine's heart filled love for his ridiculously adorable and slightly unreasonable boyfriend. "Kurt, I already told you, I'm not going anywhere, alright? Look," he commanded, raising their interlocked hands until they were within easy view of Kurt's eyes. "Feel my hand? I'm not going to let go, okay? But Kurt, you just had major surgery and it is the middle of the night and you really need to get some sleep, okay? I promise I'll be here when you wake up."

"You prom-ise, Blaine? 'Cause you can't break a prom-ise. That would make you a very, very...very bad boyfriend, 'kay?" Kurt slurred as his eyes fell shut despite his best efforts to keep them open.

Blaine chuckled and resumed stroking Kurt's hair, causing Kurt to give a hum of contentment as he turned into Blaine's touch. "I promise, Kurt. Pinky swear. Now, go to sleep."

Kurt's soft snores were the only signal that he'd heard Blaine. Blaine's shoulders relaxed and tension poured off him in waves as he watched Kurt breathe deeply and evenly, still clutching Blaine's hand tightly even in sleep.

Blaine was startled when the curtain surrounding Kurt's bed was pulled open and looked up to see Burt and Carole carefully making their way to Kurt's bedside. Blaine surreptitiously wiped the remaining moisture from his eyes before looking to Burt. He frowned slightly as he noticed the pale cast to Burt's skin and the tension in his face. He looked more worried than he had before Kurt had been brought out of surgery, rather than relieved that Kurt was doing well. Irrational panic surged up in Blaine's stomach as he started imagining the horrible things that the doctor could have told them about Kurt's condition. Kurt seemed _better_, but was there something that Blaine didn't know?

Before he could find a tactful way to voice his fears, Carole rounded the bed and brought a hand to Kurt's temple, brushing his hair back gently and smiling. Burt too moved forward grapsing Kurt's unoccupied left hand in his. He sat there for a minute simply taking Kurt in before he looked to Blaine. "How's he doing?" Burt asked gruffly, his voice betraying the slightest hint of emotion as he spoke.

"He...he's better. He was in pain, so the nurse just gave him some more pain medicine and he just fell asleep again. But...he was asking about you. I told him you were here," Blaine responded. He shifted back in his chair a bit, wanting to give Kurt's family more room to be with Kurt. He loosened his grip on Kurt's hand ever so slightly as he moved backwards. Almost immediately, Kurt let out a small noise of protest and gripped Blaine's hand tighter, his eyes never opening but making his needs known despite his semi-conscious state.

Blaine gripped Kurt's hand tighter and trailed his other hand up to rest against Kurt's upper arm. "Shh Kurt," he soothed unconsciously. He looked up to see Burt considering him with an unreadable expression on his face. Blaine cleared his throat and worked up the courage to ask Burt about the surgeon's update, still feeling uneasy that there was something that they weren't telling him.

"Did he..." he started uncomfortably. "What did the doctor say? Did the surgery go well?" Blaine asked nervously.

He watched as Burt and Carole exchanged looks before Burt turned back to address him. Burt sighed heavily before turning back to Blaine. Burt sunk into the chair at the head of Kurt's bed, looking down at Kurt's hand still wrapped protectively in both of his before responding. "He...he's going to be fine, Blaine," Burt answerered evasively.

Blaine felt his stomach drop despite Burt's reassurances. He was more sure than ever that there was something else that he wasn't being told. He opened his mouth to say more, but the look of utter exhaustion in Burt's eyes stopped him cold. He'd promised Kurt that he would look out for his dad, that he would make sure that Kurt's illness didn't start to effect Burt's health. Tomorrow, he silently vowed. Tomorrow he'd be braver. Tomorrow he'd find out the truth. But for now, Kurt was sleeping comfortably, his hand locked in Blaine's. For now, that was enough.

**End Chapter: Whew, this beast of a chapter is finally done... Sorry if it wasn't the most exciting chapter but it was necessary for where we are going next. I have plans to introduce more characters next chapter. You'll hear more from Burt and Carole as well as Finn, Rachel, and the Warblers. It should be a fun chapter. I'll try to post the next update by this time next week. In the meantime, if you are following any of my other Glee or CrissColfer stories, I took a poll on Tumblr and plan to update these stories sometime this week based on reader votes:**

**It Can't Happen Here**

**Our Time is Short**

**Courage**

**If You Fall, I Will Catch You**

**If there is one of these stories that you are much more invested in than the others, place your vote in the reviews or send me a message on Tumblr as I'm trying to prioritize my stories based on reader interest since there are so many of them right now. And if you aren't already following me on Tumblr, what are you waiting for? I posted a preview of this chapter on Tumblr yesterday afternoon, so there are benefits to following me in both places. You can find me at place-that-ive-been-dreaming-of(dot)tumblr(dot)com. **


	8. Faithfully

**Author's Note: **Chapter 8 is finally done! I couldn't have done it without my lovely (and very speedy) beta alexeidarling who catches all of the mistakes that I'm too tired to see. I've outlined the rest of the story and there will be a total of eleven chapters. I'm going to work on updating some of my other Klaine and CrissColfer stories in the next few days, but I'll try to get Chapter 9 of There's No Place Like Home up sometime in the next week. Hope you like the story!

**Chapter Warnings: **Brief graphic depictions of medical procedures. May make some people a bit squeamish.

_**Blaine gripped Kurt's hand tighter and trailed his other hand up to rest against Kurt's upper arm. "Shh Kurt," he soothed unconsciously. He looked up to see Burt considering him with an unreadable expression on his face. Blaine cleared his throat and worked up the courage to ask Burt about the surgeon's update, still feeling uneasy that there was something that they weren't telling him.**_

"_**Did he..." he started uncomfortably. "What did the doctor say? Did the surgery go well?" Blaine asked nervously.**_

_**He watched as Burt and Carole exchanged looks before Burt turned back to address him. Burt sighed heavily before turning back to Blaine. Burt sunk into the chair at the head of Kurt's bed, looking down at Kurt's hand still wrapped protectively in both of his before responding. "He...he's going to be fine, Blaine," Burt answered evasively.**_

_**Blaine felt his stomach drop despite Burt's reassurances. He was more sure than ever that there was something else that he wasn't being told. He opened his mouth to say more, but the look of utter exhaustion in Burt's eyes stopped him cold. He'd promised Kurt that he would look out for his dad, that he would make sure that Kurt's illness didn't start to effect Burt's health. Tomorrow, he silently vowed. Tomorrow he'd be braver. Tomorrow he'd find out the truth. But for now, Kurt was sleeping comfortably, his hand locked in Blaine's. For now, that was enough. **_

Sun streamed through the narrow window of Kurt's hospital room. Blaine was sacked out in a vinyl hospital chair with his head resting against the narrow bed rail that surrounded Kurt's bed. Blaine continued to tightly clutch Kurt's hand, his posture somehow protective of Kurt even in sleep. Carole had left the hospital a few hours ago, deciding to make a quick trip home to gather some of Kurt's things and see that Finn made it off to school on time despite his stepbrother's illness. Burt sat on a couch on the other side of Kurt's bed unable to sleep, his body's circadian rhythms having defaulted to rising just as the sun was coming up despite the fact that he'd gotten precious little sleep the night before. Burt idly flipped through a newspaper, more to occupy his hands than out of any real desire to read about the various tragedies and hardships that had befallen the community overnight. He couldn't help but think that his family had experienced enough hardships and tragedies for a lifetime already.

Burt sighed heavily as his gaze landed on his son's prostrate form. Kurt was sleeping easily for once, a minor miracle after the night he'd had. And through it all, Blaine had refused to leave Kurt's side. This wasn't surprising given that Burt had sensed that Blaine was good for Kurt from the moment that he'd met him. Kurt seemed so relieved to have a friend and mentor, and like Kurt, Burt had been relieved to hear that Blaine was "100% gay."__Burt saw how hard it was for Kurt to be the only "out" gay kid at school and he hated that his son was constantly forced to go it alone. But try as he might, Burt had no idea what it was like to for Kurt to be gay, so Burt had been incredibly relieved when Kurt found someone who understood him in a way that none of his McKinley High friends could.

Burt could appreciate Kurt's friendship with Blaine, but their friendship had quickly turned into something else and that...well, that had taken more getting used to. It didn't help that Burt had first been introduced to the idea of Kurt and Blaine together by seeing a very hung over Blaine sleeping in Kurt's bed. But over time, Burt had come to like Blaine quite a bit. Blaine balanced out some of Kurt's more dramatic and flamboyant tendencies and was as equally at home discussing Ohio State football as he was at fawning over musicals or the newest issue of Vogue with Kurt. Blaine was usually confident and self-assured in ways that Kurt wasn't and Burt had been thrilled to see Kurt's own confidence grow over time as Blaine constantly built Kurt up. Although Burt would never admit it, he'd nearly teared up when watching Kurt perform a duet with Blaine at Sectionals. Kurt had seemed so content and so assured in a way that Burt had never seen him be before. That night, Kurt had been more radiant than he'd ever been allowed to be at McKinley. And as Burt had watched the other Dalton boys hug and high five Kurt after the performance, he'd felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Because against all odds, Kurt had found a home, a place where he was loved and accepted for exactly who he was.

Across the room, Blaine began to stir, jerking up unexpectedly, his eyes immediately flying to Kurt who continued to sleep peacefully.

"He's fine, Blaine. Out like a light," Burt spoke.

Blaine's gaze shifted to where Burt sat on the couch. He blushed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, wondering how long he'd been out. He'd planned to stay awake in case Kurt needed him, but must have crashed at some point. Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine watched as Kurt's dad dropped his newspaper to the floor and ran a hand over his face. Burt looked exhausted, Blaine couldn't help but notice, making him wonder if Burt had slept at all. His stomach clenched suddenly as he remembered the conversation that he'd had with Kurt's dad the night before. When Blaine had asked about the conversation that Burt and Carole had with the doctor, he'd sensed that there was something that they weren't telling him, about Kurt's condition. Watching Kurt rest comfortably, it hardly seemed possible that anything was wrong, but Blaine still felt uneasy somehow. He bit his lip as he tried to come up with a good way to start the conversation, glancing up to see Burt considering him carefully.

Before Blaine could say a word, the door to Kurt's room slid open and an older nurse in peach scrubs bustled into the room trailing a portable monitor behind her.

"Good morning," the kindly older nurse said with a smile. "My name's Janet and I'm going to be taking care of Kurt today. I just need to take a quick set of vitals and then we'll need to check on his incision and change his bandages." As she spoke, she approached Kurt's bed and connected a small pulse ox monitor to his finger. Kurt barely stirred as she wrapped the blood pressure monitor around his left arm and began to inflate it, snoring slightly as he turned his head towards Blaine before settling again.

Blaine gave her a tight smile but continued to watch Kurt carefully, dreading the thought of waking him up after the night he'd had. It had been well after 4 am before Kurt had been moved from the recovery room into his private room and he'd almost immediately christened his new room by throwing up all over the side of the bed and Blaine. By the time he'd been cleaned up and settled back into bed again, it was after 4:30 and Kurt was beyond exhausted. Glancing at his watch, Blaine confirmed that it as just after 8 am now which meant that Kurt had only had a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Blaine took a deep breath and tried to quell his irrational anger at nurse Janet. He was just tired. And worried. It had been a long night for everyone.

He looked up to see Burt coming around the side of the bed, clearing his throat as he looked to the nurse expectantly. "You said you were going to change his bandages?" Burt asked, his voice slightly higher than usual as he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Yes sir, that's right. It will probably take about 20 minutes. Why don't you two head down to the cafeteria and grab some breakfast while I take care of it?" The nurse continued to attach and detach various monitors efficiently, jotting down the numbers from the display as she worked.

Blaine felt his stomach flip again at the thought of leaving Kurt, even for a few minutes. What if Kurt woke up and was scared or in pain? Blaine wasn't particularly squeamish so he didn't see what the big deal was about him needing to leave the room while Kurt's bandages were changed. He was sure he'd seen much worse when he stayed with his grandmother after her hip replacement surgery. Not to mention the fact that Kurt had thrown up on him not 4 hours ago. There are some experiences that tend to bring you closer to another person, and that was definitely one of them.

"Alright Blaine, why don't we give Janet some room to work? Come on, I'll buy you some coffee," Burt said brusquely as he made his way towards the door, gesturing for Blaine to follow.

Blaine looked down to his hand which was still intertwined with Kurt's and felt an irrational pang of panic. Kurt was still sleeping, albeit more restlessly than he had been earlier but still...

"Blaine, he'll be fine. Besides, we should talk..." Burt said ominously.

"_Shit,__" _Blaine thought to himself. He was more convinced than ever that there was something wrong with Kurt besides the obvious. As much as Blaine hated to leave Kurt, he needed to know what was going on his boyfriend's health. And so Blaine reluctantly squeezed Kurt's hand before releasing it, stretching as he climbed to his feet on shaky legs that were numb from a night of sleeping awkwardly. He'd just turned from the bed and stumbled towards the door when he heard a moan from Kurt.

Blaine was back by Kurt's side in an instant. "Kurt?" he called quietly. "You okay?"

Kurt let out a slightly louder groan, his eyes still closed as he reached blindly for Blaine. "Mmhmm, hurts," he muttered as he shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "Blaine?" he called uncertainly, his movements growing slightly more frantic as he failed to connect with Blaine.

"I'm here, Kurt," Blaine soothed, taking his hand again. "It's okay."

Burt walked back to Kurt's bed, reaching down to pat Kurt's shoulder. "Hey buddy, how you feeling?" he asked gently.

"Mmmhff awful," he groaned. "So tired..."

"I'll bet," Burt answered. "Listen Kurt, it's early. You should try to go back to sleep if you can, okay? The nurse just needs to change your bandages really quickly."

"Yuck...gross," Kurt muttered, his eyes closing slightly as he yawned. "Where were you going, dad? Do you...have to go to work?"

"Nope buddy, I'm staying here. Blaine and I are just going to go get some coffee while the nurse fixes your bandages. We'll be right outside, okay Kurt?"

Kurt immediately tightened his grip on Blaine's hand. "Can't Blaine stay? I don't want to...I'm sc- I just _need_... Blaine please?" Kurt pried his eyes open with considerable effort, looking up to Blaine with a pleading expression, his eyes heavy with sleep and pain.

As always, Blaine was helpless to resist Kurt. His pleading seemed to reach directly into Blaine's heart, making him ache with a desire to make sure Kurt was okay. He reached for Kurt's cheek, dizzy with the need to reassure Kurt. "Of course, honey... I can stay."

As Blaine spoke, he remembered the other people in the room and turned uncertainly to Janet. "That's okay, right? I can...I'll stay out of the way."

The nurse sighed heavily before nodding. "It's okay with me if it's okay with Kurt. You'll need to wash your hands and put on a gown though. We need to keep everything sterile."

Blaine nodded eagerly, happy to do anything that would allow him to stay with Kurt. He was slightly confused by the need for special gowns, but assumed that the hospital staff was just being careful, something Blaine had no qualms with. Whatever it took to make sure Kurt was okay was fine by him.

Burt cleared his throat. "Blaine, can I talk to you for a second? Kurt, he'll be right back, okay? I just need him to help me with something for a second. We'll be right back."

Blaine looked up in surprise at the sudden request. Burt's face was stony and unreadable, immediately triggering Blaine's earlier anxiety.

Burt turned to the nurse who was now taking Kurt's temperature. "Janet, if you wouldn't mind, I just need to talk to Blaine for one minute before you get started with the other stuff..."

"Of course," Janet replied understandingly, giving Blaine a sympathetic look that did little to assuage his fears. "I'm just going to get all the supplies prepped and ready to go while you two talk."

Blaine swallowed nervously, turning back to Kurt and trying to seem casual. He didn't know what was going on, but clearly there was something he needed to be told. "Hey Kurt, I'll be back in one minute, okay? Then, I'm going to be with you the whole time, honey. Just try to relax, alright? See you in a second." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand and stood for a second time, wordlessly following Burt out of Kurt's room, his heart hammering in his chest with every step.

Burt led Blaine into the hall, carefully closing the door behind them before looking up to make eye contact with Blaine. Blaine shoved his hands into his pockets nervously, biting his lower lip as he mind raced through a series of increasingly horrible possibilities for what was wrong with Kurt. Did Kurt have some awful and/or deadly infection? What if they'd found a tumor? Could Kurt have cancer? What if his organs were failing? Was Kurt going to die? Blaine shook his head slightly in an attempt to stop his spiraling thoughts. Instead, he nervously looked to Kurt's dad and with a deep breath, he forced himself to ask the one question he's been too frightened to ask the night before. "Mr. Hummel, is Kurt going to be okay? Is there something you're not telling me or..?"

"Why don't we sit?" Burt directed Blaine, leading him to a row of faded vinyl chairs next to the coffee maker. Once they were both sitting, Burt looked to Blaine, his face softening slightly as he took in Blaine's obvious anxiety. "Look Blaine, I meant what I said last night, okay? Kurt is going to be just fine. Really. But...there were some...complications with the surgery."

"What...what kind of complications?" Blaine asked hurriedly, still irrationally fearing the worst.

"Well, you already knew that his appendix ruptured, right?" Burt asked gently. Blaine nodded in response, silently urging him to continue.

"Apparently when that happens, it increases the risk of infection quite a bit because an abscess starts to form inside. When the surgeon opened Kurt up, he saw that there was a lot of infection, so he had to make an open incision instead." Burt saw a look of confusion cross Blaine's face and rushed to explain. "It means that they had to make one large incision instead of a few small holes for a laparoscopic approach." Burt traced a long line across his abdomen in demonstration of the open incision, helping Blaine visualize what he was saying.

"Anyways, the surgeon tried to clean everything out as best he could after he removed the appendix but he's concerned about Kurt getting an infection called peritonitis. One of the ways that they try to lower the risk of that is by letting the incision heal from the inside out basically. So Kurt's got a drain in his stomach and the incision is packed with gauze but it isn't sewn up all the way. I...I haven't' seen Kurt's incision yet, but Carole showed me some pictures online and...it's pretty gruesome looking." Burt sighed heavily as thought back to the discussion he'd had with Carole and the surgeon the night before.

"But like I said before, Kurt's going to be fine. It's just going to take awhile longer for him to heal and he'll be in the hospital for a week or so and then someone will probably have to come to the house for a few weeks after that to check on his incision. It's just that...well, hell, you know how Kurt is, Blaine. He gets squeamish if I scrape my arm while I'm working in the garage and don't put a band-aid on it right away. I don't know how he's going to do with having a big open wound and drain in for weeks at a time And not that it should matter, but he's going to have a pretty big scar when all's said and done and I could see him getting awfully worked up over that too. I think it's going to take a little adjustment for him and us too probably, but the doctors have assured me that they're going to watch him closely to make sure he doesn't get an infection and that he'll be fine."

Burt finished speaking and looked up, taking in Blaine's stricken expression. Blaine's mind was reeling as he struggled to make sense of what Kurt's dad was telling him. He was so relieved to hear that despite the complications, Kurt wasn't suffering from some horrible disease or fatal cancer. But Blaine knew Kurt better than anyone which meant he knew with a sickening certainty how upset Kurt would be when he was confronted with the evidence of this complication.

"Sorry kid, I know that's probably a lot of information to take in at once. I was a little overwhelmed too at first and Carole had to calm me down. But I just didn't want you to be taken off guard by the whole thing. I have a feeling it's going to be tough to see at first and I didn't think it was fair to you to not know what you were getting yourself into."

Blaine nodded gratefully. "I...I appreciate that, Mr. Hummel. I think it'll be easier now that I'm...prepared for what's going on." Blaine took another deep breath, trying to steel himself mentally and physically to once again be the strong, brave boyfriend that Kurt needed at the moment despite feeling terrified.

Burt sensed Blaine's discomfort and spoke again. "Look Blaine, I just talked to Carole and she's about 5 minutes away from the hospital. She's used to this stuff being a nurse and all. Why don't we just let her stay with Kurt while the nurse checks his incision and changes his bandages? I know that you don't want him to be alone for that, but you don't have to be the one in the room."

Blaine shook his head vehemently. "No, no...I want to be there for Kurt. It...it's going to be tough, but I can handle it. Really, I'll be fine. I need to do this for Kurt."

"Are you sure, Blaine? Look, I'm not a particularly squeamish person, but even I had trouble looking at the pictures...and those were online and not in person. You've done an amazing job of taking care of Kurt so far, Blaine, but you don't have to do it all by yourself, you know?"

Blaine gave Mr. Hummel a tight smile, his resolve to see Kurt through this latest challenge growing with each passing second. "I'm sure... I'm not squeamish. If I could handle Kurt throwing up on me last night, I think I can deal with this. I'll be fine."

Burt gave him an appraising look before nodding his assent. He had to admit that while he'd always liked Blaine, the experience of the last 12 hours had led him to truly respect Blaine as well. He gave Blaine a slightly awkward pat on the shoulder. "Alright Blaine, if you're sure. I'll be right out here if you or Kurt need me. Carole should be getting here soon too, so just let us know and she can take over at any time, okay?"

Blaine nodded as he climbed to his feet. "Okay, I should get back in there, I guess," he spoke tentatively. With a final glance at Mr. Hummel, Blaine disappeared around the corner and back into Kurt's room.

"Hey," Blaine spoke softly as he walked towards Kurt. Kurt's eyes were closed, but as Blaine got closer to the bed, he could see the tears shining on Kurt's cheeks. _Shit._

"Kurt? Sweetheart?" Blaine called a bit louder, his stomach twisting with concern.

"Blaine?" Kurt gasped.

"Yeah, hey... I'm here, Kurt," Blaine soothed as he brushed a tear from Kurt's warm cheek. "You okay? What's wrong?"

"Hurts," Kurt spoke simply. "Headache too."

Janet turned around to face Blaine as she tied the protective gown closed at the neck. "He's running a bit of a fever. I just gave him some medicine for pain and fever though, so it should kick in soon."

"Okay," Blaine responded simply, fretting over Kurt's fever as the last thing they needed was yet another complication to deal with. He continued to stroke Kurt's cheek and hair, trying to soothe him in any way that he could.

"I was just about to get started," Janet spoke, addressing Blaine. "You'll need to put this gown on and wash your hands really well with the antibacterial hand soap. Use the dispenser over there. I won't make you wear gloves as long as you make sure that you don't contaminate the sterile field.

Blaine quickly complied with her directions before settling back into a chair at the head of Kurt's bed. He leaned forward, resting his forearms against the edge of Kurt's mattress and capturing Kurt's right hand in his and planting a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead. Kurt slowly opened his eyes, giving Blaine a tired smile in response. Blaine smiled in return as he reached up and began gently carding his fingers through Kurt's hair. Kurt gave a small sigh at the soothing sensation and allowed his eyes to drift shut once again.

Blaine's momentary peace was shattered as he watched the nurse pull up Kurt's hospital gown, exposing the mess of bandages and tubes below. Not unlike a car wreck that you can't pull your eyes away from, Blaine's eyes were drawn to Kurt's side even though he was filled with dread at the thought of seeing the extent of damage.

Janet worked gently and methodically, her movements careful but efficient as she removed the layers of gauze to expose the incision and drain below. Despite her care, Kurt still reacted to the slightest pressure or tug and his moans and gasps of pain grew in volume and intensity over time.

"Shh, it's okay, Kurt," Blaine soothed as Kurt cried out in pain yet again. Kurt winced and forced his eyes open, looking up at Blaine with a combination of confusion, fear, and misery. "B-Blaine," Kurt whimpered. "What...why is it taking...so long? Hurts...bad... When will it...stop?"

Blaine looked to Janet, giving her a questioning look. She gave him a sympathetic look before shaking her head, indicating that she still had more work to do.

Blaine surged forward, pressing his forehead to Kurt's and cupping Kurt's cheek, brushing away his tears with the pad of this thumb. "Soon, Kurt. Not much longer, okay honey? I know it hurts, sweetheart, but you are doing great.

Kurt shook his head in frustration, pressing his face to Blaine's neck to mute another strangled cry. Blaine could feel Kurt's hot tears pooling in the hollow beneath his collarbone. He continued to whisper words of reassurance into Kurt's hair, fighting back his own tears of frustration and exhaustion. Blaine felt Kurt's hand crush into his as Kurt's body spasmed with pain. Without thinking, Blaine glanced back to Kurt's side and was horror struck to see Janet removing bloodied gauze that was packed deep inside of Kurt's wound.

Blaine felt bile rise in his throat at this sight of the nurse literally reaching inside Kurt's side. Kurt cried out in pain increasing Blaine's nausea tenfold. It was too much. No one should have to deal with the things Kurt had been put through in the past twelve hours. It wasn't fair. Blaine was trying so hard to be the calm, supportive boyfriend that he assumed Kurt needed at the moment, but it was taking every ounce of Blaine's willpower to not run screaming from the room. Blaine slowly blew out a shaky breath and tried to focus all of his efforts on not throwing up or passing out by shifting his gaze back to Kurt's face rather than his wounded side.

Blaine wiped the tears from Kurt's cheeks as he reminded himself to breathe in and out. "I know, Kurt. I know it hurts, baby. Just a little longer, okay, and then you can sleep. You're doing so well, Kurt."

Kurt struggled to open his eyes and gazed at Blaine. He was so tired and it hurt so much that simply looking at Blaine seemed to take enormous effort. Between the headache, dizziness, and pain in his side, it was hard to think straight, but to Kurt, it felt as if the nurse had been poking and prodding him for hours. He didn't understand how changing a bandage had turned into this never-ending torture. He looked to Blaine for some explanation or clue about what was happening or when it might end, desperate for any moment of rest or relief.

Something in Blaine's face scared Kurt. It wasn't just his worry and exhaustion that Kurt saw reflected back in Kurt's eyes. It something more. Something new. Blaine's face was chalky white and he looked unsteady. As Kurt watched, Blaine's eyes flickered from Kurt's face towards the nurse before Blaine's body stiffened and he swallowed hard, forcing his eyes back to Kurt's face. What the hell?

Kurt watched Blaine's face carefully for further clues. Blaine continued to murmur words of reassurance as he stroked Kurt's face and hair, but Kurt ignored his words, instead watching intently for the same flicker he'd seen in Blaine's expression moments earlier. As Kurt waited, a particularly strong stab of pain shot through his side, causing his body to spasm as he cried out involuntarily.

As Kurt tensed against the wave of pain, he saw the same flicker in Blaine's face. This time, he was prepared and followed Blaine's gaze down. And what Kurt saw next would be forever branded in his mind. His gaze landed on his own side which was splayed open, partially filled with saturated gauze with a large tube disappearing into the gaping wound. Kurt felt his body shake involuntarily as the sight before him fully registered and then his vision began to fade as he was mercifully delivered into blackness.

**End Chapter Note: **I know, I know…that was pretty gruesome. Poor Kurt! That was a tough chapter to write for obvious reasons, but I'm a big believer in medical realism and just realism in general in my fics. To that end, I did some research for this chapter (you can go here and here if you want to know more) and I feel confident in saying that what I described is fairly accurate. I've also had some personal experience with a similar issue after a surgery when I had a drain in for 4 weeks. I'm probably the least squeamish person ever (I've volunteered in ER's where I've seen all sorts of gory stuff in addition to having had 9 surgeries of my own) but let's just say when the tubes are coming out of your own body…it's a lot different. Next chapter will be a lot fluffier and include some humor as well to hopefully balance out the non-stop angst of this chapter. If you liked the story so far, I'd love for you to review, like, rec, or reblog it. Seriously, it makes my day to hear that people like my work. Thanks for reading :)

If you aren't already following me on Tumblr, what are you waiting for? I posted a preview of this chapter last night so there are benefits to following the story in both places. You can find me at place-that-ive-been-dreaming-of (dot) tumblr (dot) com


	9. Control

**Chapter 9/12: **Control (6,701 words)

**Author's Note: **The chapter that has been torturing me for weeks is finally done! Thank you so much for your patience and for sticking with this story. Hopefully the fact that it is extra long (and quite fluffy) will help make up for the wait a bit. Of course I couldn't have done it without my lovely (and very speedy) beta alexeidarling who knows how to crack the whip and getting me writing when I'm taking forever. There's a bit of angst to start out the chapter (really more like Blaingst) but then it's all fluffy fluff fluff from here on out. The story is drawing to a close as well. Only two more chapters and a brief epilogue to go. Hope you like the story! Feel free to rec and reblog if you enjoy it. Nothing would make me happier :)

**Chapter Warnings: **Brief graphic depictions of medical procedures. May make some people a bit squeamish. Mentions of past homophobia, bullying.

_**Kurt felt his body shake involuntarily as the sight before him fully registered and then his vision began to fade as he was mercifully delivered into blackness. **_

Blaine's fists were balled up at his sides, his torso shaking with barely suppressed rage. The need to strike out, to run, to hit someone, to _hurt_ someone, anyone, the way his Kurt had been hurt was overwhelming. He felt as if he was about to crawl out of his skin. Blaine brought his hands up to his face, watching as they shook uncontrollably. Before he realized what he was doing, his hands swept across the table, knocking a box of Kleenex and an empty coffee cup to the ground. He grabbed a Good Housekeeping magazine, his shaking hands aching for something to do as he began to rip up the magazine page by page. The glossy pages made a satisfying sound as he ripped them to bits, but the repetitive action wasn't enough to quiet his mind which was still reeling from what he had seen.

Blaine could clearly picture the look that flashed across Kurt's face as he'd connected the dots, uttering a soft "oh" of surprise before his eyes rolled back and he passed out. Blaine had panicked, inconsolable at the thought of how scared Kurt was and how horrified he would be when he woke up. He'd tried everything he could think of to rouse Kurt, bringing his hands to Kurt's face, his hair, his hands and shouting, begging, and pleading with him. But Kurt did not respond and as Blaine grew increasingly hysterical, the nurse finally decided that he needed to leave and unceremoniously kicked him out of Kurt's room.

Burt had taken one look at Blaine before he was half led, half dragged to the empty surgical waiting room while Carole stayed behind to talk to the nurse and get an update on Kurt's condition. Once they reached the waiting room, Blaine slumped into the nearest chair, his head in his hands. Blaine could feel Burt's presence but he kept his head down and concentrated on not crying, not breaking down, and most of all not looking at Burt. Blaine was ashamed at how utterly he'd failed at helping Kurt. He'd gone back into the room with the intention of comforting Kurt, of being there for him, and he'd failed at even this. He'd told Burt that he could handle it, and he couldn't.

It had been enough that Blaine had to survey the damage from Kurt's recent surgery, his side a mess of bandages and tubes and gaping flesh. But for Kurt, the same Kurt that insisted on Blaine capturing spiders and releasing them outside so that he wouldn't hurt a living thing, to be suffering like he was...well, that was unbearable. Unacceptable. Kurt had been so unprepared for what he'd seen as he finally took in the large incision that replaced the three tiny holes he'd been promised by the surgeon initially.

Hell, Blaine was starting to realize just how much of a fool he had been to tell himself that he could handle _this_, all of it, in the first place. Being back here, in this hospital, was hard enough. From the moment Blaine had first stepped through the hospital doors, his senses had been assaulted with the sights, sounds, and smells of a place that he hadn't seen since _that _night, that awful night and the weeks of recovery that followed. For on that night, Blaine had no idea that an innocent date with a friend could cause such heartache. That it would cause such tragedy and loss. Instead of dancing with abandon with his best friend at the Sadie Hawkins Dance, Blaine had ended the night bleeding and broken, cradling the motionless form of his best friend in his arms. Because on that night, Blaine lost a lot more than several pints of blood along with his spleen. No, what Blaine had really lost was his security, his sense of self, and any self confidence he'd previously had. It has taken years for Blaine to finally feel like he could let his guard down with another person, to know that he could be vulnerable from time to time. Blaine concentrated on breathing deeply, in through his nose and out through his mouth, focusing all of his energy on remaining whole. He couldn't break down. Not here, not now of all places. But it was too late. Old feelings and memories were rushing back too fast and too soon, and it was just too damn much. Kurt was his rock, and Blaine was quickly learning how quickly things could deteriorate when he didn't have Kurt's quiet strength to rely on.

Blaine sank into a waiting chair and squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the memories that were burned into his brain. The sickening crunch of his attacker's fist connecting with his best friend's jaw. The tang of copper in his mouth from a bloodied lip. The anger and humiliation of the words that his attackers hurled as freely as their fists. The total breathlessness after taking a vicious kick to his side. The warmth and stickiness of the blood that flowed from Jared's head and onto Blaine's lap. And most of all, the total helplessness he'd felt at the injustice of it all. His attackers were simply given a slap on the wrist. They were never truly brought to justice for what they'd done, despite the fact that they'd very nearly killed Blaine and Jared. Worse still had been his parents' reaction. They'd insisted on telling everyone that Blaine had been mugged. His parents pulled him out of school, saying that he'd decided to go to boarding school to get a better education. And they refused to speak of that day, referring to it only as "Blaine's accident." But there had been nothing accidental about what had happened that day. Blaine knew it, Jared knew it, and his parents knew it. He'd been targeted simply for wanting to be himself, for not hiding who he really was. So his parents had tried to make him into someone else instead; someone that they could share amusing anecdotes about over lunch at the country club.

The worst part of the whole ordeal hadn't been the pain, although there had been quite a lot of that, especially in the first few weeks of his recovery. It had been how utterly alone he'd felt. Sure, his parents had rushed to the hospital when they heard the news, but after ensuring that he was going to live and making arrangements for a surgeon with the "right" credentials, they'd quickly gone back to living their own lives, leaving Blaine to mostly fend for himself. It hadn't been an easy recovery and he'd spent far too many sleepless nights at this same hospital, pacing the floors to keep from falling asleep and reliving the attack over and over again in his mind. That was why it was so important for Blaine to be there for Kurt, and why he was so angry with himself for failing to handle things better. He'd freaked out precisely because he remembered just how scary it was to wake up from major surgery in pain and disoriented and the thought of Kurt enduring even one tenth of what he'd gone through made Blaine's heart ache.

Blaine was pulled back to the present by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He reluctantly lifted his head, roughly wiping at his eyes before making eye contact with Burt. "You okay, kid? You need anything?" Burt asked gently.

"Oh no...I'm fine...I'm sorry about...all this," Blaine mumbled embarrassedly, looking around the room at the torn magazine pages, Kleenex, and coffee cups that he'd knocked over in a fit of frustration.

Burt took a seat next to Blaine, considering him carefully for several seconds before speaking. "It's okay, Blaine. I get it. This isn't easy on anyone at the moment. I think you could probably use a break though. I mean have you even slept since Kurt got sick?"

"No, but I'm honestly not even tired. I don't think I could sleep if I tried. I just...I want to be there for Kurt. I know I already messed things up once, but I'll do better next time. I promise," Blaine let out in a rush, still struggling to make eye contact with Burt.

"Hey now...kid, look at me, okay? There's something you need to hear," Burt said with conviction, awkwardly patting Blaine on the shoulder and waiting until Blaine finally returned his gaze reluctantly, chewing his lip with obvious guilt and anxiety.

"That's better," Burt began encouragingly. "Now listen to me, Blaine. You haven't messed anything up. You've been amazing. You've done more than Carole or I could ever ask or expect of anyone, okay? You found Kurt when he was sick and you got him to the hospital before it was too late. And what's more, you've been there for him the whole time. You kept him calm when Carole and I couldn't get here right away. And I know that none of those things were easy tasks. Trust me; I know all too well how stubborn Kurt can be, even when he's sick." Burt paused for a moment, studying Blaine's face to make sure he was taking in what he was saying. Blaine bit his lip and quickly brushed away a tear before making eye contact again, nodding slightly at Burt.

"Look kid, you need to give yourself a break now, okay? Kurt's going to be fine, but this isn't going to the quick and easy recovery we were all hoping for, you know? It's a marathon, not a sprint, and Kurt's going to need someone to be there for him when he's recuperating at home too. I know you want to be there for Kurt then, but if you really want to help him, you've got to take care of yourself too. You won't be any use to Kurt if you make yourself sick by not sleeping and carrying around too much stress. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

Blaine nodded, his heart aching at the thought of what Kurt still had to endure. And while there was nothing Burt could say to convince Blaine that he hadn't failed Kurt already, there was a ring of truth to what he was saying about Blaine needing to take care of himself so that he could be there for Kurt later. But it was so hard for Blaine to focus on anything but the here and now and his fear of Kurt waking up alone or scared. Mostly because Blaine knew exactly how that felt and just how much it hurt.

"Good, Blaine. I want you to stop apologizing then, okay? Because you've done nothing wrong. Kurt's so lucky to have you to look after him. He wasn't safe at McKinley and you've made him feel safe, and more importantly, _welcome_ at Dalton. That's no small thing, got it? And he's going to be just fine health-wise because _you _got him to the hospital in time. So I want you to do something for me, okay?" Burt asked.

Blaine looked expectantly to Burt, nodding his tacit consent before he even knew what he was being asked to do.

"Look kid, I want you to take a little time and get yourself together, okay?" Burt looked up to see Blaine opening his mouth, presumably to protest, so he held up a hand in warning. "Wait, wait, just listen. I know better than to ask you to go home and get some sleep or a shower, but from what the doctor told Carole a little bit ago, they gave Kurt a pretty strong sedative in addition to the pain medication, so he's going to be out for a while. I want you to go splash some water on your face, take some deep breaths, maybe go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Just take a break. Pull yourself together. Kurt won't even know you've been gone. Just keep your cell phone on and I'll text you once the doctors let us back in Kurt's room, okay?"

Blaine hesitated only momentarily before nodding. He was beyond relieved simply knowing that Kurt was resting comfortably, that he wasn't in pain or scared. He didn't want to be away from Kurt for long, but a few minutes to wash his face and get something to eat wouldn't be terrible. His stomach growled as if on cue, confirming what Burt had just asked of Blaine. "Okay," Blaine said simply. "I guess I could grab something to eat. But you'll call me if anything changes with Kurt?"

"I will, Blaine. Promise. Do you need some cash for the cafeteria to get lunch?" Burt asked, getting to his feet and slipping a hand into his back pocket for his wallet.

"No no, I got it," Blaine replied hastily. "Thank you though. Do you want me to get you or Carole anything to eat? Some coffee maybe?"

"I'm good for now, thanks," Burt responded. "I'll see you in a bit, okay? And Blaine, seriously take your time. Kurt's going to be asleep for hours."

Blaine was playing a fiftieth game of Angry Birds on his phone when he felt the warm hand in his shift slightly. Immediately, he dropped his phone to his lap, his game forgotten as he leaned forward, carefully studying his boyfriend's face as he slowly woke. A quick glance at the chair on the other side of the hospital bed confirmed that Burt was still asleep and so Blaine sat forward, speaking softly in an attempt to keep from waking Burt. It was obvious he was exhausted and Blaine was still doing his best to keep his promise to Kurt and do what he could to prevent Kurt's dad from putting his own somewhat fragile health in jeopardy.

Kurt slowly struggled towards the surface, his body feeling weighed down and heavy, but mostly numb, the angry burning pain in his side having been exchanged for a dull ache. Before he opened his eyes, he could feel Blaine's presence beside him. He scrubbed his free hand over his eyes and blinked dumbly in the wan afternoon light that streamed through a small window. Slowly, the blurriness faded until he could clearly make out the face hovering over his. Kurt's first thought was of just how exhausted and worried Blaine looked. Why was he so upset?

"Hey," Kurt started, his voice soft and scratchy. "Blaine?"

Blaine leaned forward, brushing Kurt's hair back from his forehead with his left hand while he continued to draw circles over Kurt's knuckles and the back of his hand with his right. "Hey sweetheart, how you feeling?" he asked gently, his eyes searching Kurt's face for any sign of pain or fear.

Kurt gave Blaine a wan smile. "I'm okay," he replied simply, his conscious mind still occupied with working out why Blaine looked so worried. And so sad. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Blaine let out at a harsh and surprised laugh, somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. "What? Yeah honey, I'm fine."

Kurt continued to look him over; still seeming unsatisfied with the response he'd been given. "Come here," Kurt requested, lifting his left hand shakily towards Blaine.

Blaine frowned slightly, looking confused, before leaning forward a bit more, resting his chin on the railing of Kurt's hospital bed. Immediately, Kurt's hand found his face, his thumb running over Blaine's cheek and underneath his eyes, tracing the outline of dark circles that Blaine had noticed earlier while washing his face. "You look worried," Kurt spoke, clearly a statement and not a question. His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. "Is my dad okay?"

"What? Yes of course, Kurt. See, he's snoring away over there," Blaine rushed to reassure; gesturing towards Burt's sleeping form.

"Well, what are you worrying about then? Is there something new wrong with me? Do I have to have more surgery?" Kurt asked urgently.

"No, no honey," Blaine soothed. "Everything's fine, baby. I promise. I'm not worried. Just tired, okay?"

Kurt studied his boyfriend's face carefully before shaking his head, dissatisfied. "No Blaine, there's something going on. Something you're not telling me. It's written all over your face. Just talk to me, what's got you so worked up?"

Blaine sighed heavily, frustrated. This was not how things were meant to be going. He was meant to be reassuring Kurt, not the other way around. And he wasn't that worried, not really. He just couldn't help but think about what had happened earlier. Kurt seemed better, more solid than he had been then, but he also didn't seem to remember what had happened. And Blaine couldn't help the nameless dread that was building at the thought that there might be a repeat of earlier. But he couldn't see way out of the current scenario. He'd have to ask Kurt about earlier. And all Blaine could hope for was that he could support Kurt as he'd been unable to before.

"Kurt, look at me, okay? I'm fine. I guess I'm still worrying about you. But I don't have any reason to be, really. I just want you to be okay." Blaine took a deep breath before continuing. "And I guess this morning was tough. I just don't like seeing you hurting. Do you remember earlier? When the nurse was changing your bandages?" Blaine trailed off, chewing on the inside of his lip as he watched Kurt's face carefully for any sign of recognition.

Kurt's face was blank for a second, confused. Everything since he'd arrived at the hospital was one big blur. He remembered snippets really. Sounds, sensations, blurry sights. This morning he'd been... Suddenly, a memory flooded back. The burning pain in his side. The pressure as the nurse shifted things, feeling as if she was re-arranging his insides. The steady warmth of Blaine's hand in his, squeezing tightly. And then several images flashed through Kurt's mind, unbidden. He remembered the look of shock and worry on Blaine's face. He remembered following Blaine's gaze, desperate to see what had so unnerved him. And then thankfully, only the briefest flash of the mess at his side materialized. Blood-stained bandages and tubes that Kurt hadn't been able to make sense of in his exhausted and panicked state. The memory was followed by only darkness.

Kurt looked up to Blaine. There was that expression again. The worry that seemed to practically radiate from Blaine as if the mere image was physically painful to him. "Oh," Kurt spoke simply. "Yeah, I...I remember."

Blaine's hand was back on Kurt's face and in his hair, stroking gently as he looked down at him, still seeming as if he was waiting for Kurt to explode at any second. Blaine nodded, his eyes searching Kurt's face before he spoke. "And...are you...are you okay, Kurt? I know it's a lot to deal with all at once. I just don't want you to be scared or feel like you are alone in this. Any of this. Because you're not, you know? You have me. You'll always have me."

"I know," Kurt said almost immediately. "I know, Blaine. And I'm not scared. I'm just..." Kurt paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I'm just confused, I guess. I thought I wasn't supposed to have a scar. And what I can remember of the incision was pretty gross. It looked like it was going to leave a scar. A big one. Am I right?"

Blaine sighed. "Honestly? Yeah, it's going to leave a scar. But not a huge one. And it's not gross. You could never be gross. The scar will fade with time. You'll see." Blaine's eyes brightened as an idea occurred to him. "Oh, you know what? I can show you. Did I ever tell you about the time I had to get 15 stitches?"

Kurt shook his head, surprised. His eyes widened even more as Blaine suddenly lifted up the hem of his shirt, exposing a small, thin white scar just below his ribcage on his left side. Kurt reached out a hand, tracing his fingers over the small scar.

"I've never noticed that before," Kurt replied. "When did that happen?"

"Beginning of my freshman year," Blaine replied. "And what did I tell you? You can barely see it any more. Yours will fade too, I promise. There's stuff you can put on it to help it fade faster. Vitamin E, I think."

Kurt nodded, thinking. "But it's still going to look gross for a while, isn't it? I don't want to repulse you."

"What?" Blaine asked, horrified. "No, no Kurt. You could never repulse me. Ever. You are perfect and beautiful to me. No matter what, okay?"

Kurt smiled a little, looking relieved. "Are you sure about that? I have a vague recollection of throwing up on you in the middle of the night. That wasn't repulsive?"

"Of course not, Kurt. I was honored that you chose to throw up on me. Seriously, it was an honor," Blaine said, completely sincere.

"You are ridiculous," Kurt spoke, smiling fondly. "So that's all you aren't telling me? Just that I'm going to have a gnarly scar?"

"I don't know that gnarly is the word I'd use, but yeah. That's it. Well, there is one other thing, I guess. But it's more about me than you," Blaine started, suddenly nervous.

Kurt nodded, squeezing Blaine's hand as an encouragement to continue.

"I feel like...I should," Blaine started haltingly. He took a deep breath before starting again. "I want to apologize to you. I didn't handle things earlier very well. I knew you wanted me with you for that. Hell, you asked me to stay. And instead of making things better, I freaked out and made things worse for you. And for that, I'm really sor-"

Before Blaine could continue, Kurt cut him, shaking his head vehemently. "Blaine what? Are you kidding me? Honey, you have nothing to apologize for. You've been perfect. Like boyfriend of the year material. Seriously, I'm going to nominate you for some kind of award after this is all over. Maybe a medal of some kind? Or a trophy? I'll get back to you on that," Kurt rambled, momentarily losing his train of thought.

"Anyways, what was I saying? Oh yes, I was saying that you are crazy. Seriously Blaine. You need to cut yourself a little slack," Kurt admonished.

"No seriously, Kurt. I know what that feels like. I know how scary it is to be alone after something like that. I wasn't there for you."

"Blaine, I passed out, didn't I? I don't remember a thing after that, so if I was alone, I certainly didn't know it. When I woke up, you were right here. _Every _time I've woken up so far you've been right beside me. And that's all I need, okay? So can you do me a favor and stop torturing yourself over some imagined event that I don't even remember?" Kurt asked, pleadingly.

Blaine dropped his head to his hand, rubbing a hand over his face and swiping at what looked like tears before looking up to Kurt and nodding. "Okay Kurt. For you, anything."

"Good," Kurt replied, more than a little relieved and surprised at the outpouring of emotion from Blaine. He tried to imagine how he'd feel if their roles were reversed. If he'd been the one watching Blaine miserable and in pain. Having surgery. Passing out. Kurt shivered at the thought of it, deciding that his position was probably the easier of the two in the balance of things. But thinking about Blaine as a patient triggered a memory of something Blaine had said earlier, and suddenly Kurt was curious.

"Blaine? What did you mean when you said you knew what it felt like? That you knew how scary it was to wake up alone? How'd you end up needing fifteen stitches? Did something happen?"

Blaine sighed heavily again, clearly not wanting to talk about his previous experience. But he was helpless to deny Kurt anything, especially now. "Yeah, it's all from the same...uh injury. It was the beginning of my freshmen year of high school, right before I switched to Dalton. I was out at public school but there was only one other guy who was out besides me. He was my best friend actually. Anyways, we decided to go to some stupid Sadie Hawkins dance together and uhh...afterwards, some guys found us and beat the shit out of us. So that's it, basically."

Kurt inhaled a sharp intake, wincing slightly as the sudden movement jarred his side. He squeezed Blaine's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner and slowly lifted his hand to Blaine's left side, placing it over the spot where he'd seen Blaine's scar minutes earlier. "Is that how you got your scar? You said that you ended up with fifteen stitches, Blaine. What did they do? Did someone _stab_ you or...?" Kurt trailed off, too horrified at the thought to complete the season.

"No, no," Blaine rushed to respond, his eyes dark and fixed on the wall as he continued his story. "Nothing like that. A few of the guys got some kicks in while I was down and I guess they managed to rupture my spleen. So I was rushed to the hospital..._this_ hospital actually and I had to have surgery. They removed my spleen. So that's what the scar is from."

"Oh honey," Kurt clucked, stroking the back of Blaine's hand, noticing how it shook the slightest bit as he talked about the horrors done to him. "I had no idea... I know you said you'd been bullied but...Jesus Blaine. And why didn't you tell me this was the same hospital? That's got to bring back a lot of bad memories, huh?"

Blaine shook his head, already regretting his decision to tell Kurt about what had happened to him. While it was such a relief to get things off his chest, to verbalize the thoughts and feelings that had been knocking around in head for years now, he couldn't help but notice how the dynamic between Kurt and he had shifted. Suddenly, it was Kurt soothing him and not the other way around even though it was _Kurt_ who was currently lying in the hospital bed.

"It was hard at the time," Blaine acknowledged before continuing. "But it's been a long time now. I'm fine, Kurt. Being here isn't that hard, honestly."

Kurt shook his head, obviously unconvinced. "And you said...earlier...you said something about knowing what it felt like to be alone? But surely your parents were here, right? After everything that happened to you?"

Blaine laughed at this, the sound harsh and bitter in a way that chilled Kurt to his very core, reminding him again of just what an enigma, a cipher Blaine Anderson still was to him, even after all this time. "Sorry but no, not really. I mean, my parents showed up when they were summoned to the hospital by the police. But once they'd figured out that I was going to live and passed over the insurance card and made sure I was getting a private room and a good surgeon, they didn't really stick around. They sent flowers and my mom would come once a day, but she'd stay for 10 minutes if I was lucky. It probably didn't help that they'd been told by the cops exactly why I'd been so brutally attacked. They aren't the biggest fans of who I am. It's more about who they wish I was with them. Especially with my dad. But yeah, it wasn't the easiest recovery. I had some broken ribs too and a concussion, so I was here for nine, almost ten days. And most of the time it was just me and the nurses."

Kurt shook his head, speechless with rage at Blaine's parents. No one should have to go through something like that alone. The thought of Blaine, completely on his own and hurting, was enough to make Kurt's heart break, just a bit. And while Blaine's earlier guilt had been completely irrational, Kurt was starting to understand why Blaine had gotten so worked up.

"I'm so sorry, honey. And don't take this the wrong way, but your parents? They're assholes for that," Kurt breathed, watching Blaine's face carefully, trying to gauge his reaction.

Blaine let out a surprised chuckle at that, a somewhat genuine smile briefly crossing his face for the first time since he'd found Kurt on the floor of the bathroom almost two days earlier. "Uh yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean, they're not all bad, especially my mom. But it was a pretty dick move, I'd have to agree. But you know what? I don't regret the experience. It made me who I am today. It brought me to Dalton and brought me to you. That was a big part of the reason why I talked to you in the first place. Because everything I'd been feeling as a freshman was written all over your face that day. And I wanted to help. And for probably the first time in my life, I actually felt like I had something of value to offer. Is that crazy?"

Kurt surged forward, pressing his lips gently to Blaine's, sighing with frustration as he moves were thwarted by the oxygen canula secured to his nose and the breathlessness that the small movement caused. He sank back against the pillows, catching his breath for a moment before responding. "Sorry, I just...I've been wanting to do that for a while now. And no, that's not crazy. Well, yes it is crazy in the sense of you believing that was the first time you had something of value to offer. But not crazy in how you felt after meeting me. I fell for you almost immediately for the same reason. From the moment we sat down for coffee that first time, I knew you got it in a way that no one else ever had. When you texted me "courage," that wasn't just a sweet gesture. It was a lifeline for me, Blaine. You have no idea. Like I said, you should be expecting your boyfriend of the year award any day now. I never could've made it through the whole Karofsky thing or the last couple of days without you. Don't ever doubt that, okay?"

Blaine smiled, his eyes prickling with unshed tears at the warmth in Kurt's voice. He felt as if a two ton weight had been lifted from his shoulders with Kurt's words. He smiled down at Kurt, stroking his cheek gently as he tried to communicate everything he was thinking and feeling through his expression.

"And Blaine? Thank you for telling me your story. About what happened after the Sadie Hawkins dance. I know it wasn't easy for you to talk about it, but it means so much that you shared it with me. I feel like I know you better now. And I just want you to know..." Kurt began, trying and failing to stifle a loud yawn. He winced minutely at the tug to his side. It wasn't painful exactly. At least not painful in the way that everything had been hours earlier. Just sore. Kurt could feel the weight of the medications numb most of the pain thankfully, leaving behind only a heaviness and creeping exhaustion.

"Jus' want you t'know..." Kurt repeated, his words slurring together more obviously now due to his growing fatigue. "You can talk to me...'bout anything, 'kay? Anytime. I wanna know how you are feeling. I love you...so-ooo much, 'kay?" he finished sleepily.

Blaine smiled, his heart swelling with love for his boyfriend. Things had been so hard for the past day and a half, but it was plain to see now that the experience had only brought them closer together. Simply hearing the words "I love you" from Kurt felt like a small miracle. But Blaine could also see that Kurt was fading, noticing the slight winces that had grown more frequent over the past fifteen minutes as well the droop of Kurt's eyelids as he fought to stay awake.

"I do know that, Kurt. Thanks honey. And I love you too. You know that, right?" Blaine spoke, smiling as he began to stroke Kurt's hair again, watching fondly as he let out a contented sigh, his eyes slipping closed briefly and involuntarily.

"Mmhmm," was Kurt's murmured reply, sighing contentedly as Blaine started stroking his hair, his fingers whispering against his scalp in a soothing rhythm.

"Alright baby, it's time for you to get some rest, okay? But first, do you need anything? Are you hurting? I can call the nurse. It's probably time for your next dose of pain medicine," Blaine directed, his hands automatically reaching for the small box that controlled Kurt's bed and contained the nurse call button.

"No," Kurt mumbled. "I'm doing okay, pain wise. Whatever medicine they gave me after I passed out did the trick. My side barely hurts. I'm jus' tired."

"That's good, sweetheart. I'm glad you're not hurting. Just tell me if that changes okay? Carole was saying that it's best to take your medicine at the first sign of pain before it gets really bad like it was this morning. I guess it works better that way," Blaine reported. "But you definitely need to get some rest. Just close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

Kurt nodded absently, his eyes having already trailed shut. He hummed a vague sound of acknowledgement before taking a deep breath, letting the heaviness of his body pull him under. He was drifting somewhere between sleep and wakefulness when a sudden thought caused him to drag his eyes open, looking to Blaine determinedly.

"What is it, Kurt? Do you need something?" Blaine asked worriedly.

"No, no, I just need you to do me a favor," Kurt replied.

"Okay, sure. What do you need?" Blaine replied, curious.

"Mmmhm, for starters, scoot your chair closer. You are entirely too far away," Kurt commanded.

Blaine fought the urge to roll his eyes, looking down to the no more than 8 inches between his chair and Kurt's bed. But instead of protesting, He simply scooted his chair forward until it was pressed firmly against the head of Kurt's hospital bed. "Okay, now what?" he asked.

"Now can you move this bedrail down?" he asked, gesturing to the rail between him and Blaine. Blaine nodded and quickly depressed a lever, sliding the bedrail down, removing the last barrier between himself and Kurt.

Kurt patted the edge of his pillow nearest Blaine, waiting patiently until Blaine shifted forward, tucking his feet up into the chair and laying his head on the edge of Kurt's bed next to Kurt's on their now shared pillow.

Kurt smiled, transferring Blaine's hand from his right over to his left hand. Next, Kurt brought his right hand to Blaine's head, carding his fingers through Blaine's curls. Blaine sighed in contentment as Kurt had done only minutes earlier at the soothing sensation.

"Blaine baby, I want you to close your eyes too, okay? I promise I'll take a nap, but only if you take one too. Because honestly, the circles under your eyes are getting so dark that no amount of concealer or eye cream is going to hide the bags," Kurt commanded.

Blaine let out a soft chuckle, allowing his eyes to drift shut. Because right now? Right now he was home. Kurt was his home. And that was enough.

**End Chapter Note: **Nothing like a little Klaine cuddling to close out the chapter. It only seemed fair given how much I've tortured our poor boys so far. There will be mostly fluff from here on out as Blaine helps Kurt through his recovery. Also coming up in the next chapter, visits from the Warblers and Kurt's friends at McKinley. I've got some ideas about who will be visiting, but is there anyone in particular you are dying to see in an upcoming chapter? Send me a review or message on Tumblr to let me know.

As always, you can read more Klaine and CrissColfer fics by me on Tumblr at place-that-ive-been-dreaming-of (dot) tumblr (dot) com. Check out my Klaine and CrissColfer Fics masterpost on Tumblr or on livejournal (username: sarahannmac). I've just updated it to include drabbles and headcanons, so check it out! Thanks for reading.


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